Prison Personnel On Strike

Employees of all Dutch prisons and forensic psychiatric clinics will go on strike if the austerity plan of State Secretary Fred Teeven is not suspended before Thursday next week, as related by a spokesperson of the Action Committee of the prison in Hoogeveen to RTV Drenthe. If the plans of Teeven pushes through, a lot of prisons will have to close. Unions, the Work Councils of the prisons and action committees have issued an ultimatum that expires on Thursday, April 18. The staff will go on strike on April 25 if Teeven does not respond. According to Anton Pekel of the Action Committee of the prison in Hoogeveen, Teeven should withdraw his plan and make adjustments. Employees should be involved in the consultations and suitable work must be found for the people who would lose their jobs. Also, the House has not responded positively to the plans of Teeven. A hearing will be held in late April. Teeven wants to cut down 340 million euro by reducing the number of places for prisoners from 12,595 to 10,917 by 2018. This would mean that prisoners would have to share a cell.