Prison officers strike for better pay and working conditions

Trade unions representing workers in the prison service once again resorted to strike action over pay and working conditions, staging 24-hour strikes in prisons between September and October 2008. In the meantime, however, negotiations were resumed in an effort to solve the pending industrial conflict. Any further strike action will depend on the outcome of these negotiations and on whether the promised pay increases are implemented.

The industrial relations climate in Belgium’s prison service has become increasingly contentious over the past number of years. Between September and October 2008, a new wave of strike action was initiated in protest against pay, working hours and working conditions in the prison service.

Friday strikes

On 19 September 2008, prison officers belonging to the socialist trade union, the Belgian General Federation of Labour (Algemeen Belgisch Vakverbond/Fédération Générale du Travail de Belgique, ABVV/FGTB), staged a 24-hour strike in all prisons in Belgium. The Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (Algemeen Christelijk Vakverbond/Confédération des Syndicats Chrétiens, ACV/CSC) did not officially support the strike, although its members were free to join the action if they so wished. The initial strike action was extended over the subsequent weeks and consisted of 24-hour strikes on consecutive Fridays in a range of prisons.

The Friday strikes were deemed highly successful, particularly those held in prisons located in the Flemish region, such as in Antwerp, Bruges and Hasselt. During the strike days, the prison officers only provided minimum services; as a result, the local police force was brought in to guarantee security in the prisons, while the civil protection service took care of food supply needs.

Trade union demands

In January 2008, the trade unions had already submitted a list of demands for the period 2007–2011 to the former government under Yves Leterme, which resigned at the end of December 2008. However, the talks ended in stalemate after a final meeting with the then Flemish Christian-democratic Minister of Justice, Jo Vandeurzen.

The unions’ main demands include the call for a 36-hour working week and a 6% wage increase for all prison staff. Moreover, they have highlighted the urgent need for additional staff in the majority of Belgium’s prisons. At the same time, the problem of overpopulation in prisons remains an ongoing issue; despite previous election promises of the Federal Public Service Justice (Federale Overheidsdienst Justitie (FOD Justitie)/Service public fédéral Justice (SPF Justice), only a few enlargements have been initiated in prisons. There is also a growing and often resounding feeling of dissatisfaction among employees and trade unions concerning the continued shortage of prison officers.

Measures to increase purchasing power are also required, as is a uniform directive with regard to labour regulation. In terms of the latter, the trade unions claim that they have been making this demand for the past five years without any result. It is argued that prison management are benefiting from the lack of national working time regulations as it enables them to adopt their own managerial polices concerning working time and the compensation of days off. Among the trade unions’ other demands are the need for more training and career path opportunities, along with greater investment in the prison system.

Negotiations resumed

Following a demonstration on 15 October, the ABVV/FGTB-affiliated General Confederation of Public Services (Algemene Centrale der Openbare Diensten/Centrale Générale des Services Publics, ACOD/CGSP) suspended its strike action in prisons until 21 November. An agenda for new negotiations was set and commenced on 3 November. Any further strike action will depend on the outcome of these negotiations over working conditions and on whether the promised pay increases that had been set for 15 November are implemented. ACV/CSC also called off any further strike action, informing its members that the priority now is to negotiate over the agreement covering the period 2007–2011.

The then Minister Vandeurzen highlighted that any decisions made will have to take into account the government’s constrained budgetary situation. Although the minister stated he would rather hire more prison personnel, relieving the high work pressures, he pointed out that this would leave no more money for wage increases. Soon after the start of the strike wave, Mr Vandeurzen promised that some 1,000 additional employees would be quickly recruited to deal with the shortage of prison officers.

Commentary

The last wave of strikes marked the culmination of a series of unofficial strikes in the prison service since the beginning of 2008, namely in prisons in Antwerp, Dendermonde, Merksplas and Vorst. On each occasion, the prison officers highlighted the problem of deteriorating working conditions due to overcrowded prisons and a lack of personnel. Consecutive Ministers of Justice have in recent years promised to address these problems. However, the renewed wave of strike action proved, once again, that these problems are still continuing (BE0206303N, BE0504303F).

Guy Van Gyes, Higher Institute for Labour Studies (HIVA), Catholic University of Leuven