'Untenable conditions': 48-hour strike at Haren prison

Staff at Haren prison will be on strike for 48 hours starting on Thursday at 22.00 until Saturday at the same time, citing "untenable" working conditions.

The joint union action aims to denounce these, along with staff shortages and a lack of action from government when it comes to addressing the overcrowding issues in Belgian prisons, said Grégory Wallez, secretary general of the CGSP union.

This is not the first of such strikes in Belgium’s prisons.

“What’s different in this case is that we have been faced with a spontaneous walkout by officers to denounce their working conditions,” Wallez said.

“We therefore contacted our representatives at Haren prison and decided to give strike notice in order to protect the workers.

"There is a shortage of around 100 full-time equivalent staff at Haren prison and, in the last 60 days, there have been 14 resignations. We are also in a critical period of the year."

Wallez said that prisons were operating with a number of workers "well below" the legal limit and staff are worried this will become the norm, rather than an exception that is the result of a crisis in the judicial system.

“Workers just want to do their job in safety,” Wallez said. “This strike is a cry for help.”

Wallez said a meeting with management had already taken place, but that it did not result in any acceptable solution.