Following the violent death of a member of staff from Ghent Social Services Department (OCMW Gent), all the department's Service Centres (Dienstencentra), welfare offices and other offices will remain closed until next Monday (18 August). In a letter, the socialist public sector union ACOD and the Christian trade union ACV Public Service informed Ghent City Council and management that its members will not be opening the Service Centres and other OCMW services will not be accessible to the public today (Thursday 14 August). The unions also say that telephone services will also not be answered during this period.
Unions demand action following violent death of Ghent social services staff member during home visit
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The unions say that there is great deal of fear among staff following the death of their colleague and the action might be extended to other public services of the Ghent Group. ACV’s Peter Wieme and ACOD’s Stephen Van de Meirssche say that “It is totally unacceptable that someone should have to pay for doing their job with their life”. They point to an increase in incidents of aggression towards municipal staff and emergency service personnel.
The trade unions are demanding that action is taken and the the City of Gent does “everything in its power” to guarantee the safety of its staff.
Mr Wieme told journalists that he is very concerned, not least because the City of Ghent is going to implement additional cuts that will have an impact on staffing levels. He adds that this is coming at a time that more staff are needed in order to guarantee the safety of those that work for city authority and OCMW Gent.