STIB strike over passenger violence

27 October 2004

BRUSSELS – Public transport workers held a four-hour strike on Wednesday morning over continued violence against staff.

Employees at the STIB depot at Molenbeek protested from 4am until 8am, leading to delays on 14 bus routes in the north west of Brussels and four tram lines.

The strike affected buses 13, 14, 20, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 78, 84, 85, 87 and 89 and slightly disrupted the 63 service. The 18, 19, 82 and 83 trams were also disrupted.

On Tuesday evening, STIB unions voted to keep up pressure on the transport company´s management over the issue of violence against staff. They voted to hold a “zero tarif” day across the whole STIB network, with employees refusing to sell tickets next Friday.

The unions decided to follow this with a “harder” strike the following Friday.