This is incomprehension for Alex (not his real name), LETEC bus driver. Stuck at home with lumbago during the strike in early February, the driver claims to have sent a proper medical certificate to his employer during the social movement.
But a few days later, the driver discovered that he was considered a striker. “I obviously didn’t choose to get sick during the strike, it’s absurd! “, he protests.
“During my stop, I went to check the notice board in our depot, and it clearly said ‘on strike’ right next to my first name, but I have never been on the picket line. I was stuck at home.”
As he was declared a striker, Alex was compensated by the union. But this compensation remains much lower than the salary he would normally receive from his employer for the entire month of February. “For one month, I was paid the equivalent of three weeks,” he explains. He says he had to rely on help from those close to him to meet his needs. “Even today, even though I have returned to work, I wonder how I will be able to pay my bills for the month. I have a house to pay for and several children to support,” he worries.
Another LETEC driver also denounces this situation via our orange Alert us button. He claims that the TEC network in Charleroi would not have paid drivers with medical proof during the strike days. “Even employees affected by long-planned hospitalization or surgery did not benefit from the guaranteed salary, as the law normally requires during the first fourteen days,” he laments.
A situation that divides LETEC and the unions
Contacted, the spokesperson for the transport network affirms that “LETEC only applies the law”. However, he wishes to add a nuance: “The law does not say that sick workers must be put on strike status. She says that there is no medical certificate that covers workers during a strike,” explains Stéphane Thierry, referring in particular to the presence of pickets in front of different depots during the social movement. “The worker can always organize on his own with the union,” he adds.
The subject had already been discussed with the TEC before the strike.
On the union side, Serge Delchambre explains that he disagrees with this process. The deputy federal secretary of the CGSP Tram-Bus-Métro adds that discussions with LETEC have not yet made it possible to move forward. “We have lawyers on our side who say that this is not normal. But lawyers from the LETEC network say that if you are sick during the strike, you are considered a striker. »
The trade unionist mentions the wish to relaunch discussions. “The subject had already been discussed with the TEC before the strike,” he specifies.
What happens when a worker gets sick during a strike?
To try to see more clearly, we asked the question to a lawyer specializing in labor law. Vincent Marcelle first explains that “the issue with this question is whether a worker, faced with this situation, can claim payment of the ‘guaranteed salary’ reserved for workers who are unable to work.”
“The guaranteed salary is not due for days when a worker would not have been able to benefit from his normal remuneration in any case due to the strike movement. For example, during strike pickets,” explains the lawyer. “This means that the law prevents workers ‘prevented from working’ by the strike movement from also benefiting from the payment of a guaranteed salary by their employer when they fall ill.” Which explains Alex’s situation.
“Of course, if a worker falls ill before the strike and/or before participating in it, he will be able to benefit from payment of his guaranteed salary for the days of incapacity for work which precede the strike,” concludes Me Marcelle.
