Brussels Minister-President Boris Dilliès (MR) has said he is ready to negotiate with firefighters' unions "24/7", provided they first clarify which of their demands are the most important.
Speaking to Belga on Friday, Dilliès said he remained committed to finding a constructive solution to the ongoing strike.
He said he had listened carefully to the unions in recent days and recalled that he convened a special meeting of the Brussels government on Thursday after negotiations stalled.
The government gave him a mandate to present new proposals in the hope of ending the strike.
However, talks broke down again. According to Steven Gilissen of the Christian trade union ACV, Dilliès insisted the strike be suspended before negotiations could resume.
Dilliès disputed that account, saying the unions had instead chosen to continue the strike while putting forward new demands.
On Friday, Dilliès called on the unions to identify their priority demands.
"Once the trade unions have completed that exercise, I am ready to continue negotiating constructively 24 hours a day, seven days a week," he said.
