A SLFP delegation is due to meet the Minister of the Interior at 3:30 p.m. The demonstrators want to draw attention to the increase in attacks on the ground, such as those which occurred last New Year’s Eve, and the lack of personnel in the face of “dizzying rise“interventions.
“The main cause of understaffing is the lack of funding for the relief areas and the lack of political will to recognize the work of the officers at its fair value.“, explains Eric Labourdette, SLFP permanent delegate. The federal government has planned a structural financial injection of 42 million euros for the period 2020-2024 as well as an indexation of 18 million in 2023 for the relief zones and the SIAMU, but the union considers these amounts insufficient.
“Civil security is the eternal forgotten of political authorities during discussions relating to the State budget“, deplores the SLFP. The agents also complain about the lack of end-of-career accommodation and the conditions for admission to the pension (67 years old in 2030). They are asking for measures to recognize the arduousness of the profession and the reintroduction preferential directors’ fees for the calculation of pensions. The trade union organization is expecting representatives from all the relief areas of Belgium during the demonstration and is therefore planning work stoppages in the barracks.”Directions are already making requisitions and asking volunteer agents to replace professionals“, specifies Eric Labourdette. The SLFP is the only union to have filed a strike notice at the beginning of January for the SIAMU of Brussels and all the emergency zones.
