Trade unions and associations saw this ruling as a threat to the right to strike in public spaces. They were all the more worried that this ruling reinforced case law repressing actions during social movements. On January 7, 2020, the Court of Cassation had already validated the conviction of the president of the FGTB of Antwerp for blocking the port. Hence the appeal of the FGTB – joined by the Human Rights League – to Strasbourg.
Will the FGTB condemn Belgium?
In its judgment handed down on Thursday, the European Court of Human Rights notes that the trade unionists were condemned neither for having carried out strike action nor for having expressed their opinions, but for having joined in a blockade of traffic. She specifies that she cannot unreservedly endorse the thesis according to which the right to strike includes the right for a union or its members to block public roads. She notes that there were other means of asserting her demands and that the sentences handed down were not disproportionate.
In a reaction, the FGTB described the ruling as “extremely disappointing and worrying”. She mentions “a serious restriction” of the right to demonstrate andconfirmation of a trend towards penalization of this right”.
