The crisis did not create major changes to industrial relations in Belgium. Still, social negotiations are more difficult in times of economic crisis. The government had to mediate and financially support in order to obtain an Interprofessional Agreement (IPA) for 2009-2010. The negotiations for an IPA 2011-2012 even failed. Specific measures were introduced to prevent redundancies and to support unemployed people in getting back to work. A key measure was the amendment of (temporarily) short-time working measures, in order to protect workers from unemployment and excessive e income loss.