Hundreds of SNCB workers hold spontaneous strike

Employees of Belgium's national railway company SNCB this morning spontaneously stopped working at stations in Brussels and Wallonia, and some of their colleagues in Mechelen, Ostend, Kortrijk and Merelbeke quickly followed suit. The action could cause major disturbances to this evening's rush hour, writes Knack.

An estimated 200 SNCB employees are currently on strike across the country and many ticket counters are closed, confirms VTM News. The workers are protesting against a measure of HR Rail, the legal employer of SNCB staff, which would cause them to lose one to two days of compensatory overtime credit, according to De Standaard. An emergency meeting scheduled with the unions at 13.00 is still in progress.

"It's regretful that Infrabel and SNCB have threatened striking workers with punitive action," said Philippe Dubois of the French-speaking Socialist rail union. "That is not conducive to social dialogue."