Working in Belgium - Representation of workers

There are four payment bodies in Belgium:

1. FGTB – General Workers’ Federation of Belgium
2. CGSLB – Central Federation of Free Trade Unions of Belgium
3. CSC – Confederation of Christian Trade Unions
4. Capac – Auxiliary Unemployment Benefit Payment Fund

The Trade Unions

A trade union is an organised association of workers, recognised by the law, which comes together with a view to protecting their rights at the work place and influencing their working conditions. Through trade union membership, workers can have an impact on work-related issues such as pay, working hours, benefits, health and safety at the work place and a number of other related matters. Governments are responsible for drafting laws that comply with the rules of the International Labour Organisation (a United Nations agency), in particular the right to form and to join a trade union. 

Trade unions constitute an essential element in ensuring a fair, balanced workplace. They speak on behalf of male and female workers. They support them to ensure that they have the right to better pay, a higher standard of living, safe workplaces and job security. A large number of the advantages and much of the protection that workers enjoy now were obtained through the efforts of trade unions in the past. This protection can easily be lost if the trade unions do not remain strong.

Impact of trade unions

Your voice in the work place: through their trade unions, workers negotiate pay, working hours, benefits and working conditions with their employers. Without a trade union, the management could take every decision unilaterally.

Strength through union: your trade union enables you to negotiate to obtain improvements for an entire group, not just an individual. Working together means greater power and more opportunities to have your voice heard.
Protection and support: trade unions ensure that your rights at the work place are respected and dispute any decision or act that is unfair or questionable.

Improvement of labour laws: trade unions reinforce and improve laws on health and safety, as well as economic and other laws relating to industry and the professions.

Activities and action

• Collective bargaining: when trade unions are able to act freely and are recognised by employers, they can negotiate working conditions with employers
• Protection of workers against illegal dismissal, and negotiation with employers if major future changes must be made at the work place
• Assistance, training and representation of members
• Professional action: when necessary, trade unions can organise strikes or resistance to a lock-out to promote specific demands
• Political activity: trade unions can promote legislation that is favourable to the interests of their members and workers and to the community as a whole

The more members a trade union has, the greater its influence will be as an organisation representing workers. It is the size of a trade union which decides its strength in terms of negotiations aimed at protecting and improving the working conditions of its members. If you want your interests to be defended, you must inform other people. By joining a trade union, you can communicate your particular interests to a group which has the necessary resources to defend them. Whether you work in a large or small company, in the public or the private sector, you can join a trade union. A trade union may very well be already present at your work place to represent workers. You can ask your colleagues whether there is a trade union in your company, and if so, which one. If there is one, find out about your rights: contact the trade union or trade union representative (colleague elected to help other workers with trade union issues) who will inform you of your rights and benefits. If there is no trade union in your company or if you want further information about trade unions in your country, you will find below a list of national central trade union organisations in each country with a link to their website and/or contact details. They can put you in contact with your trade union.

Capac

Capac: Caisse auxiliaire de paiement des allocations de chômage (auxiliary unemployment benefit payment fund), is a public social security institution which pays unemployment benefit and similar allowances (holidays for young people, activation, local employment agencies, etc.). It provides replacement income for over 120,000 beneficiaries each month.

Text last edited on: 05/2009

Source: European Union
© European Communities, 1995-2009
Reproduction is authorised.