The largest share will come from SNCB, which will cut 1,771 jobs as part of its productivity policy, reports L’Echo on Wednesday. SNCB currently employs 17,029 people, including 3,072 train drivers and 2,431 train attendants. The company plans to hire 666 people for the increased volumes. All in all, employment at SNCB will decrease by 1,104 units by 2032.
The effort should be 70% on corporate and support, and 30% on operations, according to the president of CGSP Cheminots, Pierre Lejeune. In the operational aspect, it will be difficult to save on personnel who run the trains, most of the cuts should therefore be made in the stations or in the workshops.
Infrabel, for its part, estimates that it will reach its full-time equivalent needs (around 10,000) by 2024 and then drop back down to 9,216 workers in 2032. The logic behind this reduction in employment is as follows: by investing a lot in the coming years, the infrastructure in better condition will require less work later. A new switch will need to be serviced less often than an old one.
An argument which does not convince the CSC-Transcom which recalls that the lack of personnel too often leads to the abolition of trains. “Before any further reduction in the number of agents, it must first be ensured that the current basic mission is ensured, and for this it is necessary to release the financial means for a massive recruitment. We therefore ask the members of the government, who meet in the coming days on management contracts and financial allocations, to hear the signal from the railway workers which was more than clear on May 31 during the strike of all public services”, reacts the Christian union .