Railway strike in Belgium

[lukitas]

A wild strike has broken out ten days ago. They were (are) going to steal at least two of our vacation days.
We have a hard job. sometimes you get up at two in the morning to finish around noon, other days work starts at six pm, and you go home at two in the morning. They can make us work 7 days in a row twice, with only one day off in between. We get payed to work 36 hours a week, but we work 38 to 40 hours. They won't pay for the extra time, so they have to give us the extra time in days off. 2 hours a week, 13 days per year. They decided to steal a couple of those.
There is a lot more going on, of course. Corruption at management level. Silly expenses and wonky real estate deals. Sell and lease-back, public-private collaboration. etc...
For the first time in 30 years, we got angry enough to strike for ten days. Days for which we are not payed.

Enough begging for sympathy, here are the pictures :

 

[lukitas]

 

[lukitas]

 

[Finglas]

Lukitas,

There are times when enough is enough and it seems that way with your colleagues. In Ireland today the LUAS dispute which is the light rail or modern tram system in Dublin was finally resolved after 12 day stoppages, in a private company.

Not all strikes here are in public sector, but in my old job we had no strike in the 26 years I was there and we went thru major upheaval many times.
The dispute resolution mechanisms in Ireland work pretty well even if they take time to sort out. We have learnt from bitter experience.

So I wish your co-workers well and it is nice too to see the images of solidarity in the rain.

One question what lens did you use on the wide shots with several people in frame?

all the best, and thanks for the story and images
John

 

[zauhar]

Wonderful images. I wish you and your comrades success.

At least you have the guts to do something, unlike most of us Americans. ;-(

 

[mcfingon]

Good on you Lukitas! The people who run these organisations aren't working any time for no pay, so the employees should not either. And good photos of the workers in solidarity.

 

[tbhv55]

Good luck! There's far too much of this erosion of pay and conditions for those who are not in the upper echelons, while those at the top continue to dip their snouts deeper into the trough...😡

 

[lukitas]

Thank you all for your kind words and support.

John : all these were taken with a Ricoh GR, the recent one with a APS-C sensor - it has an 18.3mm lens, same as a 28 in film.

The strike has been suspended, but the fight hasn't.
If negotiations don't deliver results, we'll go on strike again the 12th.
Let's see what happens.

Cheers!

 

[Spanik]

The only thing that this strike is causing is an even larger support for splitting the country. And the syndicates are loosing all credebility so they will come weakened out of it. Most of the commentators here don't even know what it is about.

 

[Roger Hicks]

. . . Most of the commentators here don't even know what it is about.

Then again, those who do are also sympathetic.

Cheers,

R.

 

[Spanik]

Maybe they wouldn't if they knew...

 

[Roger Hicks]

Maybe they wouldn't if they knew...

"If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs..." (Kipling)

...Are you sure you understand the situation?

Cheers,

R.

 

[farlymac]

Only got to go on strike a couple of times in my railroad career, Lukitas. And one of those was just not crossing another Union's picket line. The government has stacked the deck against the Unions here with all sorts of laws and rules favoring the carriers, and the management knows exactly how long they can drag out negotiations before something serious happens. Even then, the President can call an Emergency Board to settle the dispute, and force everyone back to work. Depending on the political winds of the moment, that can either be good or bad for the employees.

Stay strong!

In solidarity,

PF

 

[steve kessel]

Good on you and your colleagues Lukitas and good luck to you. and a fine set of pictures too.

 

[lukitas]

The only thing that this strike is causing is an even larger support for splitting the country. And the syndicates are loosing all credebility so they will come weakened out of it. Most of the commentators here don't even know what it is about.

No good future can be discerned, wether we fight or not. Striking will only cause woe and suffering.
An argument I hear a lot in different guises: we should let the bosses do what they want, because otherwise, they will get exactly what they want. In the words of the journalist "If you go on striking, won't you give the bosses exactly what they want?'
A kafkaesque development of 'There is no alternative'.

If anything splits this country, it won't be the unions. If anything, union members are more likely to be opposed to splitting up Belgium : solidarity is what we want.

Letting the bosses do what they want has already brought too much misery, and much more is in the offing.
In times of joblessness, they want us to work longer hours, more years. They want us to privatise, and we know that will be catastrophic: prices will multiply, service levels will drop, smaller lines will close, working conditions will make a nose-dive. While our beloved government subsidies company cars.
I joined the railway to be in public service. I was ready to work wild hours, destroy my family life, rarely know beforehand when I will be free, for the satisfaction of bringing a much-needed service to my concitoyen, my fellow citizen. To be the company car for those who don't get a 'voiture de société'.

They want the railways to make money. At the moment, ticket sales cover at most a third of the costs, the rest comes from a dotation. Yes, railways cost a lot, that is why they were all nationalised, from the 1890's on. The private companies all went broke. They say in the press that a day's strike costs the economy 60 million euro. If that is so, our work is worth 60 million, daily. I think that should warrant a little subsidy, no?

I'll stop ranting. On ne lâche pas.

Thanks all of you!

 

[Doug]

Sorry to hear of fatal railway collision in Belgium, passenger train collides with freight train. Was anything about this related to the strike?

 

[lukitas]

Sorry to hear of fatal railway collision in Belgium, passenger train collides with freight train. Was anything about this related to the strike?

470 million for one prestige station, 715 million for another. One in Antwerp, one in Liege, Mons, Gent and Mechelen, and Ostend and Blankenberge.
Very little left for safety measures.

A friend died, another went beyond the call of duty to help and reassure the survivors on his train.

Thank you Doug.

 

[Dpingr1]

Strikes are never easy or painless for workers. Unfortunately, the only power that workers will ever have is their solidarity and willingness to undergo hardship in pursuit of reasonable wages and conditions. Obviously, every labor dispute is socially and politically complicated, but I know which side I fall on. Stay strong, Lukitas, and know that there are still many of us in the world who support you and your comrades. And your photographs are marvelous!

 

[BillBingham2]

L,

Profit is critically important, but only for some things. IMHO there are something's like clean water, safety, health, education that should not be only for profit. Transportation is one of those things that is a critical differentiator where subsidies or completely funded through the federal government are critical. Look to the U.S. to see what decimating public transportation can do in the long run.

Most of our union members have lost what they had and earned back in the early part of the last century. If you feel it's right, it is, long as neither side is getting hurt.

Good luck.

B2(;->

 

[MikeDimit]

I wish you luck!!
And .. as we are in EC study the situation of your colleges in other countries. If you back up you will end as rail road workers in Bulgaria.