The SNPS union, which represents Belgium’s royal cavalry escort, has issued a strike notice with effect from 18 July, following failed negotiations on compensation for extra travel expenses, union delegate Frédérick Fortunato said on Wednesday.
The horsemen could decide not to participate in the National Day Parade on 21 July or leave during the course of the procession, he warned.
A one-year allowance was offered at the negotiations, but the riders, many of whom have seen their journeys increase by 40-odd kilometers, want it to be permanent.
Many of these policemen “were already commuting over many kilometers and, for some, the distance will be longer,” Fortunato explained.
“Of the 120 riders, around 40 came for the negotiations this morning,” he added. “They are in solidarity with one another and determined to do something on July 21, even if they have always been reluctant to harm the image of the cavalry.”
Fortunato explained, however, that “this only concerns the old and not the new candidates” and that the impact is “limited because some people carpool”.
