Belgian Prison Guards Begin 5-Day Strike Over Overcrowding and Staff Shortages
Prison guards across Belgium walked off the job on Sunday evening, launching a five-day strike to protest chronic overcrowding, severe staff shortages, and deteriorating conditions in the country’s correctional facilities. The industrial action, which began at 22:00 on September 6 and runs until Friday at 22:00, affects all penitentiary institutions and detention houses nationwide, according to VRT NWS.
A System Under Strain
The strike follows years of mounting pressure on Belgium’s prison system. On January 5, 2026, overcrowding reached a record 19.6 percent, with 13,478 inmates housed in facilities designed for just 11,296 people, as documented by VRT NWS. The number of inmates sleeping on the floor peaked at 618 in December 2025, while the Mechelen prison remains the most critically overcrowded facility, holding 156 inmates in a prison built for 84.
Union representatives report that the situation has only deteriorated. Robbie De Kaey of the ACOD union told BRUZZ that Dutch-speaking prisons are currently running at 23 percent over capacity, with 2,474 extra detainees, combined with an 11 percent staff shortage. “The workload is far too high and the conditions in which detainees live and in which staff work are unacceptable,” he said.
Failed Negotiations Trigger Action
The strike was formally announced on September 1 after negotiations between the common union front, Justice Minister Annelies Verlinden’s cabinet, and Prison Administration Director-General Mathilde Steenbergen failed to produce concrete results, as reported by VRT NWS. The unions had filed a strike notice on August 27, warning that staff would not accept continued inaction.
“It is always the same bottlenecks that return during local consultations,” said Alain Blancke of ACV Openbare Diensten. “Unfortunately, we have not received any adequate guarantee or concrete answer from the political authorities to structurally address these problems in the short and medium term.”
The unions point to a massive backlog of approximately 800,000 days of untaken leave, doubled resignation rates compared to five years ago, and unsafe working conditions as evidence of systemic failure. They also note that the Belgian state has been convicted multiple times over prison conditions, with fines running into millions of euros, as detailed in their August 27 communiqué.
Requisitions and Controversial New Rules
Because the strike exceeds two days, prison directors are permitted to requisition guards to maintain minimum staffing levels. According to BRUZZ, personnel has already been requisitioned in both Brussels prisons — Haren and Sint-Gillis — to guarantee minimum staffing.
A new requisition regime introduced this summer has become a major point of contention. Previously, minimum service could only be imposed after 48 hours of a strike; it now applies from the first 24 hours. Minister Verlinden justified the change by citing the too-frequent need to call in police or Red Cross during previous strikes, but unions view it as an attack on the right to strike, as noted by Brussels Today.
“With that you silence people and make them angry at the same time,” De Kaey said.
Emergency Measures Fall Short
Parliament approved emergency measures in July 2026, including mandatory electronic monitoring for sentences under 18 months, to address overcrowding. However, unions remain skeptical. De Kaey noted that approximately 2,000 people with sentences up to 18 months are not yet in sentence execution, and questions remain about whether enough electronic monitoring devices are available. “It is not the ultimate solution,” he said.
The opening of the new Antwerp prison (de Kade) also fails to resolve the underlying problems, according to unions. The old Begijnenstraat prison would still hold nearly 600 detainees for about 450 places, while some staff would transfer to the new facility. Recruitment for the new prison reportedly started too late.
What’s Next
The strike is scheduled to end on Friday, September 11 at 22:00, but the unions have warned that further industrial action will follow if their demands are not met. The dispute represents a direct confrontation between prison staff and Justice Minister Verlinden over years of chronic underfunding, and the political pressure on the federal government is intensifying.
As The Brussels Times reports, the strike affects all Belgian prisons and detention houses, raising concerns about safety conditions for both remaining staff and detainees during the action. The key question now is whether the government will offer meaningful concessions before Friday — or face the prospect of further, potentially longer strikes.