The unions that represent prison officers at Antwerp Prison have issued a strike notice after yet another incident of violence against staff at the prison. In the latest incident one prison officer was hit in the face and a second had his hand broken by an inmate.
Another prisoner threw a bucket of soapy water over one of the prison’s management team while staff were removing excrement that had been smeared onto a wall. The strike notice is for Sunday 10 and Monday 11 March.
At the end of January staff at the prison staged action by refusing to admit any new inmates. The did so in protest at overcrowding at the jail. However, the socialist trade union’s Robby de Kaey told VRT News that in the three weeks that followed the protest some 100 addition prisoners were admitted.
"Sad record"
There have been between 760 and 770 inmates at the prison in recent weeks, officially Antwerp Prison has room for 440. The Prison’s Governor An Janssens told VRT News that "The issue of overcrowding is not new, but this is really a sad record".
On Monday, the management of the prison will hold talks with the unions to see if a solution can be found to avoid a strike. "I have every understanding for the prison officer’s position because the situation here is really dire at the moment," Ms Janssens said.