ZCZC
BFF-39
BELGIUM-TRUCKERS-POLITICS-EU
Belgian-French road blocked in protest against EU transport
BRUSSELS, Jan 7, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Traffic jams formed on a highway between
France and Belgium on Monday during the first of a series of protests that
unions plan in EU countries against reforms affecting lorry and bus drivers.
Police said traffic backed up several kilometres (miles) for around 90
minutes Monday morning because of a protest called by a Belgian transport
union near Rekkem in Belgium’s west Flanders.
The union is part of the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF)
which opposes proposed EU reforms that could reduce rest time for truck and
bus drivers.
ETF officials said there could be more protests in countries like France
and the Netherlands before the European Parliament debates the reforms on
Thursday.
They added unions in Italy are prepared to stage a national strike if the
parliament’s transport committee adopts many of the new rules.
“There was a blockage from the lorry drivers near Rekkem on the E17 toward
France,” the Belgian federal police’s press attach, told AFP.
John Reynaert, deputy head of the Belgian transport union, said the police
caused the jam by rejecting the union’s proposal to route trucks through a
parking area to distribute leaflets to drivers.
He said there were no blockages at three other protest venues in Belgium,
including two highways leading to the Netherlands.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, has proposed reforms that
give employers greater leeway to set driver schedules.
“If this means longer hours and less rest, then it is a grave risk for
road safety and drivers’ health and well being,” the ETF said on its website.
It said the plans also undermine the principle of equal pay for equal work
in the same country for cross-border EU workers.
For example, the reform “temporarily exempts drivers from the application
of posting rules that insist international workers should be paid at local
rates wherever they work,” it added.
BSS/AFP/RY/1702 hrs