Belgium: social partners are divided on the adaptation of the preliminary procedure to mass lay-offs

The solidarity pact between generations, an ambitious social pact that the Verhofstadt government has been strongly defending for over a year, is planning notably to shorten the preliminary procedure to mass lay-offs. The National Work Council (CNT) pronounced a divided opinion on this matter. (Ref. 061113)
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Since 1998, the “Renault law” has been governing the preliminary procedure to mass lay-offs. The generation pact stipulates that this law will be “adapted in cooperation with social partners, not to harm the protection against unfair dismissals, but really to be fixed more quickly and to shorten the procedure, so that negotiations can be concluded within two months (…)”. The social partners gathered at the CNT pronounced, at the beginning of October, a divided opinion on this disposition. Where

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