From 1 January 2028, there will be no more statutory hiring on the railway, according to a preliminary agreement reached by the rail unions ACOD Spoor, ACV-Transcom, and VSOA Spoor with the Minister of Mobility, Jean-Luc Crucke (Les Engagés).
Currently, recruitments follow existing rules, but from 2028, staff will only be hired under a contract, confirmed the socialist railway union CGSP Cheminots/ACOD Spoor.
“This is clearly the toughest point in the preliminary agreement,” said union leader Pierre Lejeune. The unions wish to keep the staff statutes and statutory hiring. “However, our demands on this matter were not considered.”
Additionally, it has been agreed that unions and rail directors will negotiate collective labour agreements for contractual staff in the national joint committee. A two-thirds majority will still be needed to approve decisions within social dialogue.
According to the agreement, HR Rail will remain, but its role is changing. It will continue to provide legal expertise on human resources, but some current responsibilities will shift to the railway company NMBS and the rail network manager Infrabel. Each of the three railway companies will become the legal and actual employer of its staff, taking charge of its recruitment and selection.
Consequently, some staff members will move from HR Rail to NMBS or Infrabel, retaining their seniority, salary, and other acquired rights, with no layoffs occurring.
Lejeune also mentioned that there will be no extension of the alternative service schedule during strikes. “No staff will be requisitioned,” stated the union leader. Under the current system, employees must declare in advance whether they will strike, and based on this, NMBS and Infrabel develop a service schedule.
The unions are currently presenting the preliminary agreement to their members, with the socialist and Christian unions, the largest rail unions, scheduled to decide on 27 May.
This year, there have already been 23 strikes on the railways. At the end of April, the rail unions decided to suspend their actions after reaching the preliminary agreement with Crucke and arranging with Minister of Pensions Jan Jambon (N-VA) to begin negotiations on pension plans.
