In pics | Thousands of Belgian union members march against 'social dumping' in Brussels

Nearly 20,000 Belgian trade union members took to the streets in Belgium capital city of Brussels, on Monday (May 22) to protest "social dumping," which they see as increasingly bad working conditions and the erosion of their right to strike.

According to the police, around 18,000 people took part in the  peaceful march co-organised by Belgium's three largest trade unions Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (CSC), General Labour Federation of Belgium (FGTB) and General Confederation of Liberal Trade Unions of Belgium (CGSLB).

The protest in Belgium, which paralyzed the subway and other traffic in the capital city for most of the day, came after a Brussels court backed a request by Belgian retail group Delhaize to ban workers from forming picket lines outside its supermarkets and warehouses.

Delhaize is a supermarket chain which sought to change the store management setup, directly cutting into the income and rights of staff, reported the Associated Press. 

While the court ruling has since irked trade unions and they were also broadly protesting to improve worker rights as companies have supposedly sought to impose new contracts on workers that impact their social rights, affect their working conditions and cut their pay. 

According to the European Commission, "social dumping" is a practice where workers are given pay and/or working and living conditions which not up to the standards compared to those specified by law or collective agreements in the relevant labour market, or otherwise prevalent there.

However, there is no clear, universally accepted definition of social dumping, this is what the term broadly means while certain elements are subject to change in different contexts and sectors. 

In a statement, the trade union FGTB said, "Trade union freedoms have been under attack for years in Belgium. But the provocations and attacks against these freedoms have reached new heights since the Delhaize conflict began." 

It added, "With the massive deployment of bailiffs and police officers at picket lines across the country, the right to collective action is being brutally undermined."

As per Reuters, the three major trade unions in Belgium are also worried that the plan by the Delhaize group to sell 128 supermarkets to franchises could affect working conditions and also lead to layoffs. (Photo: @Dupanloupseba)

"We see that workers are treated as merchandise in a lot of companies, they (the companies) start to transfer workers to other companies where they have lower working conditions, lower wages, where there's no negotiation margin with the trade unions, where there's no social dialogue," President of CSC trade union, Marc Leemans told Reuters. 

He added, "So this is the first important thing - we want that workers are respected and are not treated as merchandise." Echoing a similar sentiment, the General Labour Federation of Belgium (FGTB) union said, "We don’t want second-class employees. We want respect and equal rights for all." The statement also spoke about how the "defense of our social and trade union rights is being made impossible." (Photo: @Dupanloupseba)