A 24-hour strike is now taking place at the Flemish public transport company De Lijn. The common union front announced this on Tuesday evening. The unions had already submitted a strike notice on 17 September to protest against the privatization of activities, such as the dial-a-bus exchange and student transport, and the dismissal of staff.
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The unions want guarantees for the job security of the staff. A consultation between the unions and management did not yield any results on Tuesday. The trade unions ACOD, ACV and ACLVB are therefore calling on the staff to stop working en masse on Friday. It is not yet clear what the impact will be. “But the inconvenience could well be great,” says Rita Coeck of ACOD.
De Lijn also expects major disruption to bus and tram traffic on Friday. Society also says in a response that it has a lot of understanding for the concerns and uncertainty of colleagues, but at the same time states that “striking now is totally irresponsible in this time in which De Lijn is benchmarked”. “The unions are thus putting the future of De Lijn as a whole at risk. While they say they are on strike against what they consider to be a first step towards privatization, all they achieve with this is to bring general privatization closer, ”explains Roger Kesteloot, director general De Lijn.
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