Daily News

View All News

Belgium – Angry unions leave temporary staffing advisory board

22 June 2012

Various unions in Belgium have left the advisory board of a temporary staffing committee in the country’s Flemish region because they felt their advice was not taken into account on important issues in the industry. 

The unions include ACV, ABVV and ACLVB which still maintained that a “thorough” monitoring of the sector is necessary after negative press highlighted a recent protest of young people against employment agencies, emerging reports about discrimination and figures which apparently show that temporary workers are more prone to work accidents than permanent staff.

The unions warned they will no longer participate in the advisory board if the committee does not commit to seriously “handle input from all partners.”

This can have detrimental effects on the staffing industry as Piet Vandenbergh from the ACV union cautioned. But he criticised that the unions have not been taken seriously enough and only had a “loose” advisory role.

The Belgian federation of employment agencies, Federgon, have reacted to the news and said that it regretted the decision of the unions. It emphasised that social partners, i.e. the unions, play a significant part on the advisory board and pointed out that the internationalisation of the temporary staffing market in Belgium makes them a “pivotal” partner. It urged the committee to quickly find a solution.