Due to a breakdown in negotiations between both parties following the disciplinary sanctioning of employees, the Christian trade union CSC has decided to organise a number of strike actions against Engie Electrabel. The first one took place this Wednesday at the company's headquarters at Gare du Nord in Brussels.
Over two weeks ago, 39 employees at the energy supplier were sanctioned for irregularities in customer service and sales, while 16 were dismissed after they had extended fixed contracts for their colleagues after the deadline set by management.
As a result, trade unions decried the decision of Engie Electrabel's management, and organised negotiations with company leaders to review these 'draconian measures.'
For Ben Bellekens, Regional Secretary of the CSC in the building, industry and energy sectors, deemed their approach to be incomprehensible. While he admitted that employees had made mistakes "it is a question of shared responsibility" given the confusion about work processes and open-ended contracts.
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With work stoppages having taken place in customer services in Ghent, Namur and Gosselies over the past two weeks, the CSC stated that they had asked for a social mediator to intervene, which management had apparently rejected.
In reaction, the union has already started a first strike action at their headquarters at Gare du Nord in Brussels this Wednesday at 07:00, with some 80 demonstrators having set up a picket line. This will be followed by further actions by the CSC, supported by socialist and liberal unions FGTB and CGSLB respectively.
