“The biggest social regression in 80 years”

For the FGTB, the socio-economic note of the former trainer Bart De Wever (N-VA), finally rejected, prepared “the greatest social regression in 80 years”.

“Is this exaggerated? When we look at the measures that were planned for working conditions, it was an incredible regression,” said Thierry Bodson on Tuesday, in a reaction to Belga. And the president of the socialist union cited: the end in all sectors of the ban (except for derogations) on night work and work on Sundays and public holidays, or the end of the minimum working time of 2 hours per day. “Mandatory weekly rest has been an achievement since the beginning of social dialogue as we have known it since the end of the Second World War. In addition, we would break this social dialogue as created in 1945,” added Mr. Bodson. Concretely, a company could have deviated from the agreements concluded by the joint committee and the branches could also have deviated from the Interprofessional Agreement (AIP).

For Thierry Bodson, such a “break” would not even be to the advantage of employers who would be faced with “anything goes in certain sectors” with the establishment of “unfair and unbridled competition”.

For the FGTB, Bart de Wever’s socio-economic note was “out of touch with reality”, with in particular the intention of proceeding with the gradual extinction of end-of-career and early retirement schemes, while many sectors are facing restructuring.

The note was finally rejected by the MR, mainly on the project to introduce a tax on capital gains. For the FGTB, this measure is a “smokescreen” which hides “much more significant setbacks.”

At this stage, the socialist union intends to “inform” and “raise awareness”, but also intends to “react”, probably after the local elections, if negotiations resume on the same basis.

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