Marie-Hélène Ska (CSC): "If journalists are looking for clowns, we can provide them, but that's not our mission."
Akkanto, the Podcast, episode 2: The union's secretary general on the 95% of union work you never see
Marie-Hélène Ska, Secretary General of Belgium's CSC union, has clear boundaries about media appearances. In her conversation with Hakima Darhmouch, she shares a striking fact: 95% of union work happens quietly—delegates and activists solving concrete problems in workplaces across Belgium. No drama, no headlines.
Yet public perception focuses on the other 5%: the strikes, protests, moments of conflict.
About the Podcast:
To celebrate akkanto's 30th anniversary, Akkanto The Podcast explores in a series of 10 episodes how reputation shapes our world through conversations with leaders who've built, defended, or reinvented their standing. Every two weeks, hosts Hakima Darhmouch and Andries Fluit sit down with CEOs, entrepreneurs, and innovators who are moving the lines of Belgian society, alternating between Dutch and French episodes.
Listen to the first episode (in French) here:
Ska doesn't fully reject the "blocker" reputation. "We claim the right to block what destroys society," she says, especially when it leaves people behind. But she questions who else blocks progress—those who maintain the illusion that success comes purely from hard work, when wealth is often inherited rather than earned.
The conversation reveals surprising regional differences. Being a union leader requires "thick skin" anywhere, but especially in Flanders where media attacks are more intense. A recent example: when the CSC president took early retirement, what Ska calls "a storm in a teacup" exploded in Dutch-language media while barely registering in francophone Belgium.
The CSC still publishes paper newsletters. Why? "You can discuss around it, leave it lying around, someone else picks it up," Ska explains. Information that stays, that builds recognition.
Asked about her legacy, Ska deflects ownership: "We're not proprietors of what we do, but gardeners and sowers." In an era of personal branding, here's a leader focused on planting ideas for others to harvest.
Listen to the full conversation to discover why Ska refuses certain TV shows, how unions navigate Belgium's divided media landscape, and what really fills that 95% of union work you never see.