In practice
Non-respect of the 2002 “gentlemen’s agreement” on the peaceful settlement of industrial disputes, right to strike flouted: Despite an informal agreement signed by the
social partners
social partners
Unions and employers or their representative organisations.
in 2002, aimed at encouraging
conciliation
conciliation
An attempt by a neutral third party, a conciliator, to aid the settling of an industrial dispute by improving communications, offering advice and interpreting issues to bring the disputing parties to a point where they can reconcile their differences. The conciliator does not take as active a role as a mediator or an arbitrator.
See arbitration, mediation
and
mediation
mediation
A process halfway between conciliation and arbitration, in mediation a neutral third party assists the disputing parties in reaching a settlement to an industrial dispute by suggesting possible, non-binding solutions.
See arbitration, conciliation
over all other forms of dispute settlement, employers have often and abusively called for the courts to intervene, claiming an “absolute emergency”. Rather than enter into negotiation, enterprises file an ex parte application which results in the courts taking a decision before the workers have had an opportunity to plead their case. Heavy fines are foreseen if they ignore these rulings. Appeals are possible, but usually fail.
As a general rule, the courts consider that it is not acceptable to prevent employees or third parties gaining access to the workplace, regardless of whether violence is used in doing so, but judges have issued “preventive” orders even when there is nothing to indicate that such acts would be committed. Furthermore, if trade unions call off a
strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
, the courts consider that the dispute is settled and refuse to rule on the grounds for or possible infringement of the right to
strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
. The European Trade Union Confederation, ETUC, and the three national trade union centres ACLVB-CGSLB, CSC-ACV and FGTB-ABVV lodged a complaint with the European Committee of Social Rights against this undermining of the right to
strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
.
Employers still free to dismiss union representatives by paying compensation: A special procedure must be respected when dismissing workers’ representatives on works councils and health and safety committees, failing which the workers’ representatives can ask for reinstatement. However, in practice, workers’ representatives are never reinstated. Employers prefer to pay out legal compensation, even large sums, rather than respect the special procedure or reinstate wrongfully dismissed workers’ representatives.
The tactics of the far right: On 28 February the Antwerp Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the Employees National Centre (Landelijke Bediendenn Centrale in Dutch, LBC) in a case brought against it by a former union delegate removed from his union post. In 2004 he stood as a candidate for the Flemish regional elections, for the far-right party Vlaams Belang. Following an initial judgement that invalidated his removal, the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the CNE-LBC’s decision, arguing that the party’s programme was clearly anti-union. On 8 July, a trade union with close links to the party, the Vlaamse Solidaire Vakbond (VSV), was created with a view to breaking what it saw as the “illegitimate” monopoly of the three main Belgian trade union centres in the 2012 “social elections” (to elect the members of the
works council
works council
1. A body elected to represent the interests of workers within a workplace through communication and consultation with the employer e.g. concerning working conditions and health and safety issues. 2. A joint council composed of representatives of both workers and the employer for workplace-level discussions on matters of common interest.
and the workplace health and safety committee).
Binding pay rise ceilings restrict collective bargaining: After two trade union organisations rejected the text on the multi-sector agreement, the caretaker government set the “wage standard” (a ceiling on pay rises over a two year period) at 0.0% for 2011 and 0.3% in 2012. On 1 July the Employment Minister confirmed that the standard was binding, that its application would be checked and that infringements would be penalised. Sectoral and company collective agreements cannot therefore grant pay rises above this standard, on pain of being invalidated. In May, two new collective agreements in the stone quarrying industry were rejected on these grounds. In the view of the Liege branch of the FGTB, which negotiated the agreements with the employers, “the Belgian tradition of
social dialogue
social dialogue
Discussion and co-operation between the social partners on matters of common interest, such as economic and social policy. Involves participation by the state where tripartism is practice.
is being trampled underfoot”.
Facing the risk of a negative interpretation of the EU Agency Workers Directive: With a view to the transposition of the European Temporary Agency Workers Directive, employers organisations argued that collective agreements which restrict the use of temporary workers are in breach of the directive. If the government agrees with their argument, the transposition of the directive into national law could lead to an upsurge in temporary contracts to the detriment of permanent workers and of the right of trade unions to bargain collectively, if temporary agency work is de facto no longer considered a specific subject for
collective bargaining
collective bargaining
The process of negotiating mutually acceptable terms and conditions of employment as well as regulating industrial relations between one or more workers’ representatives, trade unions, or trade union centres on the one hand and an employer, a group of employers or one or more employers’ organisations on the other.
See collective bargaining agreement
.
Proposals for not very social reforms: Major socio-economic reforms were announced at the time of the governmental agreement. They included the acceleration of the degressive sliding scale of unemployment benefits and further restrictions on access to early retirement. The agreement implicitly restricts the possibility for public sector employees to take
strike
strike
The most common form of industrial action, a strike is a concerted stoppage of work by employees for a limited period of time. Can assume a wide variety of forms.
See general strike, intermittent strike, rotating strike, sit-down strike, sympathy strike, wildcat strike
action, particularly prison guards and railway workers, not excluding the introduction of a
minimum service
minimum service
The operations needed in a public or private establishment during a strike, normally to avoid compromising the life or basic needs of the population or causing irreversible damages.
See Guide to the ITUC international trade union rights framework
requirement. There are also the six socio-economic “recommendations” of the European Commission, notably the reform of the salary indexation system and of the legal retirement age, as well as the rules on facilitating access to the labour market. Employers seized on these recommendations as a pretext to demand their immediate application.
