For the first edition of our Organising Champions initiative, we are proud to showcase the work done by unionised workers at Comet Sambre, a Belgian industrial site specialising in the recycling of metal and electronic waste.

The current political climate can make it seem as though victories for workers' rights are few and far between. But these wins are possible, especially when workers come together and organise. At IndustriAll Europe, we want to highlight these success stories and bring them to a wider audience, so that like-minded people can draw inspiration from them for their own struggles. 

That is why we are launching our new video series, Organising Champions.
For our first edition, we travelled to an industrial site in the heart of Wallonia, Belgium's southernmost region, where we met the unionised workers at Comet Sambre — men and women who sort metal and electronic waste and give it a second life through recycling.

We spoke to the organisers, who explained that when they first joined the company over a decade ago, very little was in place to protect workers' safety. This led a number of them to begin organising, recruiting colleagues to join the union and build collective strength.

They described how, at the outset, management was resistant to the idea of union representation. As a family-run business, the owners felt there was no need for it. The workers thought otherwise. Through persistence and one-on-one conversations, the shop stewards gradually convinced colleagues to join their cause, not by taking a confrontational approach, but by demonstrating to management that their goal was to improve conditions for everyone.
This shift in tone allowed both sides to see each other as partners rather than adversaries, opening the door to genuine dialogue. 

The result is a markedly better working environment for all: stronger protections for workers, and a management and workforce now aligned around shared goals.

Comet Sambre's story is a compelling example of what can be achieved when workers organise: better protection and a better atmosphere, for everyone, management included.

This is why we are proud to name them our inaugural Organising Champions.

To hear more from the workers themselves, watch the video on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkD9FIdbx2U&t=158s