Belgian prison staff to strike from Sept. 6 to 11 after talks with minister fail

Belgian prison staff will strike for five days after talks with Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden and the prison administration failed to produce an agreement.

The joint prison-union front activated a strike notice covering all penitentiary institutions, including detention houses. The action will begin at 10 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 6, and end at 10 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 11.

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The same sticking points keep coming up during local consultations.

Union representatives Alain Blancke of ACV Public Services, Jef Tax of ACOD and Eddy De Smedt of VSOA said discussions with the minister’s cabinet and Mathilde Steenbergen, director-general of the prison service, had yielded nothing. Blancke said the same problems kept returning in local consultations and that the unions had received no adequate guarantees or concrete response from the political authorities.

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Unfortunately, we have received no adequate guarantee or concrete response from the political authorities to tackle these problems structurally in the short and medium term.

The unions pointed to overcrowded prisons, large numbers of inmates sleeping on floors and staff shortages. They also demanded a solution to employees’ accumulated leave. According to the unions, the conditions make it difficult for staff to work safely and infringe on the rights of prisoners and detained patients.

They want the problems addressed urgently and action on the leave backlog within a “reasonable, but short period.” ACV Public Services said further strikes could follow if the authorities do not respond.

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reasonable, but short period