The joint trade union front at the Public Centre for Social Welfare (CPAS) in Anderlecht, Brussels, has filed a strike notice to protest working conditions and demand urgent improvements.
The unions ACV Public Services, ACOD, and VSOA have reacted to issues highlighted in the Pano documentary, which exposed alleged fraudulent practices at the CPAS in Anderlecht. Undercover journalists received welfare benefits without being entitled to them or even residing in the municipality.
The union front calls for urgent investment from the Brussels-Capital Region in the CPAS of Anderlecht to address the issues. "We must seize this fiasco to strengthen the position of the staff so they can finally do their jobs properly."
The majority of CPAS staff in Anderlecht are overwhelmed by high workloads, the unions emphasised. "They are no longer able to perform basic tasks, let alone thoroughly vet all applications."
The problems revealed during the Pano documentary, and discussed during a special hearing in the Chamber last Wednesday, are indicative of a chronic issue, which the union front describes as "a symptom of a failing general policy." They argue that professional services require "a stable, independent, and properly remunerated workforce" to best guard against "political interference, corruption, and precariousness."
Despite this, the administration remains "deaf" to the staff’s needs on the ground and within the CPAS. "After three members’ meetings, six work stoppages, two strikes, countless actions, proposals, and consultations over the past years, the situation has not improved in any way."
