After the employers’ representatives on Monday, the federal government and the regional governments received the unions on Wednesday.
Unions called on governments on Wednesday for urgent action to deal with the energy crisis. In their view, there can be no question of waiting until next month before stepping up support for households faced with soaring bills. The government, via Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, made a promise to the unions following two hours of talks: “There will be no power cuts in private homes, nor sending bailiffs to citizens.
Each month that passes, it’s anguish
The unions have filed a general strike notice for the month of November. “If we file a notice, it is not for fun but it is because before the holidays, we organized a national demonstration which brought together 80,000 people, it is because, since then, the bills have exploded, and there is no answer. If there is no response by the end of September, the strike will take place. Each month that passes, it is the anguish and anger that rise among people“, warned the president of the FGTB, Thierry Bodson.
The tone was positive at the end of the meeting. “There are fairly favorable agreements in principle”recognized M. Bodson. “The structural problem is that the government, in order to take substantive decisions, is waiting for European decisions. Obviously it won’t be until October, and then it’s too late.“. “There is an awareness among political representatives that the situation is untenable, but these are words, we expect action, concrete measures“, Ms. Ska explained.
Extraordinary Council of European Ministers this Friday
The unions are demanding in particular a new extension of the social tariff for energy, a ban on shutting off meters during the winter or even temporary unemployment of workers whose company is affected by the energy crisis which occurs at the same time as deferrals of social security contributions for the company. An extraordinary Council of European Energy Ministers will be held on Friday in Brussels.
At the Belgian federal level, intercabinet discussions are underway on new measures. “We are not waiting for the European Council to move forward, even if the solution to tackle the problem at the root is at European level.“, we were assured by a government source. The announced deadline is that of “next days“. A select ministerial committee will be held on Friday. The ambition remains to cushion the blow for the middle class and businesses, and to finance this support by tackling the superprofits. But this work takes time: it is necessary to assess the budgetary impact of the measures, prepare them technically and target them sufficiently so that they have the expected effect, it was added.
