Two days of strike action planned for 9 and 12 October

Public sector trade union ACOD is organising a day of strike action on 12 October over federal reforms targeting pensions and sick days for civil servants, among other issues, just a few days after another trade union strike is set to take place on 9 October.

“New cuts will have tangible consequences: less accessible public services, poorer working conditions and greater pressure on purchasing power,” ACOD said in a statement.

“We oppose a reduction in funding for public services, attacks on automatic wage indexation and a VAT increase that would affect essential expenditure.”

While the strike is being organised by ACOD and focused on the public sector, the union’s vice-chairman Uwe Rochus said all sectors were welcome to take part.

“It’s appalling how they’re dismantling the public sector,” Rochus said.

“We can already see the storm brewing, with the billions that both the federal and Flemish governments will have to find during their budget negotiations.”

The open nature of the strike means there could be disruptions to trains, trams and buses, in prisons, and among the fire service or the police, though the disruption is unlikely to be equally severe everywhere.

In the education sector, for example, Rochus expects the impact to be less significant.

“There will be picket lines in various places,” said Rochus.

The union leader emphasised that the strike is also intended for the benefit of users of public services, who do not deserve to see service provision deteriorate further.

The 12 October strike is scheduled to come just a few days after another strike on 9 October by the ABVV and ACV trade unions.

That strike is intended to be a “first clear warning” to the federal government over its plans to cut spending.

The federal government must find a further €10 billion in the coming weeks to bring the budget into line with the European spending standard by 2029.

Unions criticise that much of the budgeting consequences fall on the working class, saying the 9 October strike aims to send the message that "the strongest shoulders" must contribute.

“Workers cannot be called upon time and time again to plug the gaps in the budget,” the unions said in a joint statement.

Trade unions have also set the week of 23 November as a potential date for a general strike.