Ronse (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Workers at Werkplaats, Ronse, Belgium protested over safety concerns due to lack of supervision. Union ABVV criticises poor management, financial losses, and job insecurity. Director Jan Foulon cites funding issues and seasonal work challenges.
Workers at the Werkplaats, Ronse, Belgium a green service company, protested at their workplace on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. They are concerned about a lack of supervision. One worker was sent to work with an independent contractor without any oversight. This worries the workers about safety and the company’s responsibility. Union believe the lack of supervision puts employees in danger.
Ann Deheegher of ABVV said,
Customer-run companies receive subsidies for good support and guidance. You cannot simply use workers as cheap temporary workers.
Are Werkplaats workers facing safety and job security risks?
The workers are worried about their safety. They say that without proper supervision, they face risks at work. The union mentioned a dangerous accident in 2011 where a worker was sent to a job without any supervision. They want to prevent something like that from happening again.
The protest is asking for better working conditions, more oversight, and stricter safety rules. The unions want the company to take action now to ensure workers are safe and supported. They believe that safe workplaces and responsible labour practices are important.
The union mentioned that the company has lost money and hasn’t fixed problems found by inspectors. They also say the director, Jan Foulon, is too busy with other things and isn’t at work enough. Foulon says the company is having a hard time, but he is at work and that the workers are usually out on jobs during the day.
It is true that we have had a number of financial setbacks with the green service department in recent years,
Jan Foulon says.
The union is upset because many workers are out of work due to a lack of projects. The union says this is because the company’s coordinators aren’t trying hard enough to find new work. These workers already make the minimum wage, and when they’re out of work, they make even less money. This makes their financial situation worse.
The union wants the company to look for more work so that workers have steady jobs. They believe this would prevent workers from having to deal with the uncertainty of not knowing if they’ll have work each month. The union says the company gets money to help workers, so it should make sure they have jobs.
We are bound by the concluded contracts. Almost all the work is done for cities and municipalities, and is the result of a tender,
the director says.
According to the company, it can’t just find more work because it has contracts with cities and towns that are set for a long time. These contracts are like agreements that say how much the company will get paid for doing certain jobs. The government is also giving less money to help the company, so it needs to make its own money.
The company also mentioned that it’s normal for there to be less work in the winter and more work in the summer. This is because people need help with their gardens and parks more in the summer.
They mentioned that this makes it hard to keep the same number of workers all year. The union and company talked about this, but they didn’t come up with any solutions. The union says it might take action if things don’t get better.
