Breakdown at De Lijn in various places due to spontaneous strikes, but unions agree on the coast

The shortage of workers at the transport company De Lijn has been largely eliminated. This was said by Transport Minister Annick De Ridder (N-VA) in the Flemish Parliament after a question from An Christiaens (CD&V). At the same time, De Ridder pointed out that he understands the many changes at De Lijn that employees have to endure.

“The implementation of the new transport plans was good, and we also see a 6 percent increase in passenger numbers,” said De Ridder. “The reality proves that it is a good way of working. But we have to update the approach, and I suspect that the many changes have caused a certain fatigue among the drivers, which I understand to a certain extent.”

However, she does not understand the spontaneous strike. “These are wildcat strikes. And that is indeed even more difficult, because it makes it impossible for De Lijn to establish a minimum schedule,” she said.

According to the minister, the problem of lack of workers has now been solved to a large extent. “According to the latest estimate we have now, there is a shortage of 130 full-time equivalents in Flanders. That was much higher in the past. This has already decreased .There were 5,149 applicants for the position of driver this year. Of these, 608 were effectively employed.”

“We are going to see if we can manage these dropouts – seven out of eight – in a better way without lowering the bar,” De Ridder continued. sure that more will be achieved. I’m talking out of hand now, but I’d like to see what the agreements are with VDAB.”