Rail strike in Ghent-Sint-Pieters: “We want to do better for travelers” (Ghent)

There will be a 48-hour strike on the railways throughout the country. The staff is not happy with the management’s reorganization plans. The unions also set up a strike picket at Sint-Pieters station.

A major rail strike will take place in our country from Tuesday evening to Thursday evening. The staff is dissatisfied, also in the Ghent region. The decision to shift and centralize staff in the stations, among other things, is causing dissatisfaction.

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“For example, there is currently only one staff member in Ghent-Dampoort, where thousands of travelers pass every day,” says Tony Fonteyne, national secretary of ACOD Spoor. “If a passenger in a wheelchair wants to get off there, a staff member has to come from another station. As a result, a train was delayed by ten minutes on Monday.”

The unions are therefore asking for more staff and higher budgets. “Services are running smoothly,” says Fonteyne. “People experience it every day that trains are delayed, canceled or shortened. And then the management still has plans to phase out. We want to be able to do better for travelers.”