Employees of Ghent’s Green Spaces Maintenance Service, Groendienst, will conduct daily three-hour protest actions starting on Thursday against a municipal cost-cutting plan, according to Peter Wieme, secretary of the ACV Christian trade union federation.
The liberal union VSOA has joined forces with ACV and the public service federation, ACOD, and filed an indefinite strike notice. Eight local civil society organisations in Ghent have also joined the movement.
The City of Ghent plans to make €120 million in structural savings by 2028, affecting 416 full-time-equivalent positions. This decision has understandably caused concern among staff, despite assurances from the city of a smooth transition and internal mobility options.
On Monday, green maintenance employees began their protest actions. On Wednesday morning, 150 staff members and several vehicles gathered in the square seeking more information about the city’s savings plan.
“The city authorities keep offering comforting words, but we are not getting any clarity,” Wieme said. “The number of affected positions changes constantly, first it was 374, now it’s 416! The trust has been broken.”
Protests are set to occur for three hours each weekday. The impact on services is not yet certain, but according to Wieme, dissatisfaction is not limited to Groendienst. “If the municipal administration maintains this stance, the protests may spread to other municipal services. We do not rule out the possibility of extending the actions, even during the Ghent Festivities.”
An extraordinary city council meeting on cost reductions was scheduled for Wednesday evening, in the absence of the mayor, who is ill.
Unions said they planned to demonstrate outside the town hall alongside civil society organisations. “These budget cuts do not only affect staff,” said Wieme. “Citizens, clients, and vulnerable groups dependent on municipal services are also being impacted.”
