Europe orders Belgium to change Major Law on port employment

The European Commission has given Belgium one month to adapt its law relating to employment in the ports, nearly 18 months after its first ruling that the so-called Major Law is in breach of EU regulations.

According to the newspaper Gazet van Antwerpen, EU transport commissioner Violeta Bulc has written to federal labour minister Kris Peeters ordering the government to amend the law. In particular, the “pool system” which means that only recognised dock workers may take up employment in the port areas in Zeebrugge, Ostend, Ghent and Antwerp.

Any change would be opposed by dock unions, who have said they are prepared to go to court to defend their position. Peeters, however, faces a deadline of 23 October or see Belgium brought before the European Court of Justice.

The Commission first spoke out against the legality of the Major law last year and has since then been in constant, but ultimately unsuccessful, negotiations with the government.

Earlier this month, Fernand Huts, CEO of logistics company Katoen Natie, said he would be prepared to take on 500 refugees if the terms of the Major Law were lifted for logistics businesses working in the port. The choice, he said in an open letter to the government published in De Morgen, was simple: “Either defence of self-interest by the dock unions, or job creation, economic growth and work for recognised refugees.”

Photo courtesy port of Antwerp