2023-09-14 18:48:00
Two months following a last stormy meeting, a new tense management committee was held this Tuesday at the Stib.
Écolo returned to the charge on the question of wearing religious symbols on Brussels public transport. The Greens lobbied intensely during the meeting to obtain their authorization, in its broadest possible acceptance. But they encountered refusal from Défi, which blocked their requests.
”Ecolo is quite insistent. The Greens want us to land quickly at all costs,” indicates a well-informed source within the Stib.
Environmentalists indeed wish to obtain progress in this ultra-sensitive issue, two years following the agreement reached within the Brussels government on the wearing of convictional signs within the Stib.
The Brussels government led by Rudi Vervoort (PS) agreed that the Stib would not appeal a judgment condemning it for discrimination for refusing to hire a young Brussels woman, on the grounds that she wore a headscarf. Islamic. He had agreed on several lines of force. The ban on convictional signs should remain the norm for positions of authority and those in direct contact with the public. The Brussels executive was also expected to take a legislative initiative to establish a legal framework aimed at prohibiting proselytism in the workplace.
To this end, the Brussels Intercommunal Transport Company carried out an internal consultation. The management committee must now choose between the different scenarios that have emerged.
Écolo wants to extend authorization to drivers
This Tuesday, Écolo pleaded for the STIB management committee to validate the most “inclusive possible” of the three remaining scenarios. While the PS wants to authorize the wearing of convictional signs in the Atrium (Stib headquarters), Écolo wants to add authorization for metro drivers. Concerning functions of authority, the Greens intend to relax the rule to avoid establishing a glass ceiling which would de facto exclude women wearing the veil.
Défi strongly opposed this, arguing that the Brussels ordinance prohibiting proselytism has not yet been tabled. The PS agreed to side with the arguments of the amaranth party, for procedural reasons.
The point was therefore postponed to the next management committee, scheduled for next month. Environmentalists, however, remain optimistic, with the filing of the ordinance expected soon.
A political standoff cannot certainly be ruled out on this occasion. “The environmentalists are not being straightforward on this point,” complains a political source. They are moving behind the scenes, because they fear putting themselves in danger vis-à-vis their electorate in the second crown. They want to have it both ways.”
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