A countrywide strike has had a serious impact on Belgium's prisons, the country's prison service reported on Monday afternoon.
Unions, for their part, expressed satisfaction with the scale of the strike, which has been largely followed.
The strike began at 10 p.m. on Sunday and will continue until 10 p.m. this Tuesday. The strikers are denouncing the “inhumane” detention and working conditions that prevail in Belgian prisons due to overcrowding and staff shortages. They are also criticising the Minister of Justice who, they charge, wants to apply short prison sentences at all costs.
A minimum service is being provided during the strike, but the scale of the movement has resulted in the cancellation of visits, activities, work for prisoners and outings to the yard. “Voluntary staff are being supported by police forces to carry out priority tasks such as meal distribution,” the prison administration added.
Grégory Wallez, federal secretary at the General Union of Public Services, CGSP, was pleased with a strike turnout “beyond expectations.” According to his information, around 90% of employees in Nivelles prison have joined the strike, as have almost 80% of those in Namur and 70% in Leuze-en-Hainaut and Jamioulx.
“We expect the same thing for the second day of the strike on Tuesday,” he said. “The reason for the strike has gone down well, because we are denouncing inhumane detention conditions, for the well-being of the officers but also of the detainees.”
