Belgium’s main trade unions have urged the Flemish government not to raise the price of service vouchers again, warning that a further increase could drive customers away, cost jobs and add to the workload of domestic workers.
As the parties in the Flemish coalition enter the final stage of talks on next year’s budget, unions in the service voucher sector say the priority should be to reform the system rather than make vouchers more expensive.
In a joint statement, ACV/CSC, ABVV/FGTB and Synova called for consultations with the social partners before any new price rise is considered.
They said the real issue is not how many euros a voucher should cost, but how to ensure the system creates good-quality, properly paid jobs for the 90,000 domestic workers employed through it.
The unions said an agreement was reached a year ago between the social partners and the minister to examine a different subsidy model for the sector. They argue that debate should now take place before any further price increase is put on the table.
Last year, the price of a service voucher in Flanders was already increased by €1, while the tax deduction was also scrapped.
According to the unions, that significantly raised the real cost for users. They say National Social Security Office figures show employment in the sector has since fallen by 2.2%.
They added that the effects of the previous increase were partly softened by long waiting lists and by the fact that some customers were willing to pay more because the extra money benefited their domestic worker through a pay rise.
A new increase so soon after the last one, they warned, could have a much greater impact.
The unions want the Flemish government to carry out a thorough reform of the system, linking public funding much more closely to the quality of employment.
They also criticised what they described as spiralling administrative costs being passed on to customers of domestic help services.
