Anyone planning a visit to public services in the 19 municipalities of Brussels today will face locked doors, as civil servants at communes, CPAS social aid agencies and public hospitals stay closed as employees take part in a demonstration in the city. The one-day stoppage is the work of the three unions representing communal employees.
The demonstration will begin at around 10.00 at the Place St-Catherine and make its way to Place Royale, when a delegation will call in at the offices of minister-president Rudi Vervoort and finance minister Guy Vanhengel. It will then continue on to conclude at Rue des Congres at around 13.30.
As well as the closure of certain services, the march is likely to cause disruption to traffic in the centre on and around its route via Bvd Anspach, Rue des Alexiens, Bvd de l’Empéreur, Rue Ravenstein and Rue Royale.
“We are mainly complaining about the fact that our salaries have remained static for ten years, unlike other regions,” said union representative Maxime Nys of ACOD. “That is why we earn 10 to 15% less for the same work as in other regions.”
The shut-down affects town halls, social aid agencies and the five Iris hospitals of the region, spread over 11 sites: Brugmann, St-Pierre, Iris Hospitals South, Jules Bordet and Reine Fabiola.
Alan Hope
The Brussels Times
