Police trade unions issued a notice of intention to strike last week, scheduled for the 13 and 14 December. The CSC Police (the police arm of the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions) is indicating that the strike action will take the form of gatherings “at police stations and related bodies, and is amongst the most significant that the country has seen in recent times.”
The CSC Police are saying that the staff of integrated police units (federal and local police) who will not be requisitioned as such have been called to gather outside the police headquarters in Charleroi and Liège, as well as outside the federal police headquarters in Brussels. The strike action will begin at 6.30 a.m. on Thursday, and continue into Friday.
The appeal stems from the joint trade union front comprising, amongst others, the CSC and CGSP (the union representing public services). The notice of intention to strike was issued last week on 7 December. For some time, the trade unions have complained of “attacks” upon police status and upon their pension arrangements. Furthermore they denounce staff shortages and violence towards the police.
A meeting is anticipated to take place on Wednesday with the new Minister for the Interior, Pieter De Crem. Raoul Moulin, Permanent Secretary for the CSC Police, warned, “However, the strike action will go ahead whatever the outcome of that meeting.”
The Brussels Times
