The strike that was expected to take place at Charleroi Airport on Thursday has been cancelled. An agreement has been reached between management and the social partners.
CNE union representative Yves Lambot confirmed on Tuesday that staff at Charleroi airport would go on strike for 24 hours on Thursday 2 May. It was later reported that the strike would threaten to impact more than 94 flights and 17,500 departing passengers.
However, a meeting "to try to find a solution and avoid" was held on Wednesday morning between the unions and Charleroi airport management, which resulted in a positive outcome.
An agreement was reached meaning the strike would not go ahead after all and operations would continue as normal at the airport, the management of Brussels South Charleroi Airport (BSCA) announced in a press release. Additional information about the nature of the agreement has not been provided.
Mounting social tensions
Discussions between social partners and management will continue on Friday. The social situation at the second-largest airport in Belgium has been raising concerns among unions for some time now.
Among the problems raised by the unions were the fate of two managers accused of harassment by staff, as well as poor social dialogue and the pressure put on certain workers by the human resources department, according to the unions. This spurred the CNE union to file a strike notice for baggage and catering services earlier this month, which expired on Tuesday.
Last week, management tried to defuse the situation by announcing that it would reassign two targeted managers. The unions criticised the preventive nature of this step, however, arguing that the investigation would need to continue for months. In the meantime, this would barely improve the situation for employees.
Employees also cited high work pressure and poor social dialogue at the airport.
The original article was updated at 12:15 on Wednesday 1 May to state the strike has been cancelled.
