Spontaneous strike at De Lijn in the Vlaamse Rand and Denderstreek

De Lijn drivers went on strike west and north of Brussels. Not a single bus leaves from a depot in that region, the transport company reports on its website.

There is heavy disruption due to trade union actions in the regions of Brussels, Halle, Ninove, Asse, Dendermonde, Vilvoorde and Grimbergen. De Lijn says it regrets the spontaneous strike and advises travelers in those regions to use the route planner on the transport company’s website or app to check whether buses are running or not. Trips that are not driven do not appear in the route planner.

There is dissatisfaction among the staff because of changes in the planning that would be implemented from January. “There are too few drivers and too few buses, so extra trips have to be canceled,” says ACV secretary Bart Reyns. “That already happens on an ad hoc basis, but if a trip is actually canceled, that is potential work that is lost, and that is a sensitive matter. But the dissatisfaction also lies in the way in which communication took place.”

According to Reyns, there was an announcement last week that rides would be canceled, and more were added on Wednesday. The trade unionist speaks of a “breach of trust” between management and the unions.