Bpost unions have called for a 24-hour strike. The action started on Monday at 10:00 p.m., the postal company said on the social network Twitter. Mail delivery will therefore be disrupted on Tuesday and post offices could remain closed.
Impact on sorting centers
The strike started Monday evening in the sorting centers has mainly an impact on the distribution of mail in Wallonia and Brussels. The two major sorting centers in Wallonia, in Charleroi and Awans (Liège) are blocked as well as that of Brussels X, Belga learned on Tuesday from the unions.
The majority of Walloon sorting centers are also blocked by strike pickets and no mail has been able to get out. “The centers of Mons, Mouscron, Tournai, Nivelles and Braine-l’Alleud, in particular, are affected by the movement. We only let out the newspapers“‘, confirms Pascale Martin, permanent secretary Wallonia at the SLFP Poste. “Some post offices will also be closed for the day but it is still too early to know the extent of these closures..”
In Brussels, the Brussels X sorting center, in Neder-Over-Heembeek, is also blocked. “More than 80% of the staff are on strike there.“, confirms Danny Vanhee, permanent secretary Brussels/Flemish Brabant at SLFP Poste. The blocking of the Brussels infrastructure could also have an impact on the distribution of mail in Flanders.
In Wallonia and Brussels, around 75% of newspaper distribution rounds took place on Tuesday as well as 50% of ordinary rounds, estimates for its part Bpost.
In the north of the country, some workers from the centers of Antwerp and Ghent are also taking part in the movement, but its scale is less than in Wallonia and Brussels, according to the unions. Bpost estimates that 90% of Flemish workers do not take part in the movement.