Team behind ‘Thuis’ sees paid lunch breaks and free internet disappear, but there is more that is difficult for them

The VRT wants Home to an independent production house, but the employees ofFlanders’ most popular soap do not like that. With work interruptions, apetition and even a march on Monday on the cabinet of media minister Dalle(CD&V), they make their dissatisfaction clear. There are some obvious reasonswhy the Home team absolutely wants to stay with the VRT.

Peter DumontNovember 17, 202203:00

It rumbles on the set of Home. But this time it is not yet another familydrama, divorce or attempted murder that causes a stir. The unrest is caused bythe savings plans of the VRT. The public broadcaster must realize a saving of25 million euros by 2025 and therefore wants to Home and place the seventyemployees on the payroll for that program with an external production house.

But that is not to the liking of the employees of the soap. As the end dateapproaches – January 1, the Home team at their new employer – their protestis getting fiercer. But what is the conflict actually about?

The first and most important stumbling block is the work schedules that theemployees would be presented with from next year. After all, they lookdifferent at the VRT than in the private sector. For example, the lunch breakof 45 minutes is now counted as working time. The 15-minute break in themorning and in the afternoon is also recorded as working time. When theemployees transfer to a private production house, that kite no longer applies.

In addition, the official place of employment of the Home team to be theBrussels Reyerslaan. And that while the studios where most of the shootingtakes place are in Leuven. This means that employees – even if they livecloser – not only receive a kilometer allowance for the distance betweenBrussels and Leuven, but that this travel time also counts as time worked.

Add everything together and you arrive at about two hours a day that now endup in the accounts as ‘work’, but which will no longer be the case from 1January. So more work will have to be done for the same wages.

Money worries

The cast and crew are also concerned about that wage. After all, as VRTemployees they are entitled to a number of premiums that threaten to disappearin the private sector. For example, their internet subscription is reimbursed.Good for just over 50 euros per month.

When no catering is provided on the set, they also receive a meal allowance,which is quite good at 16.36 euros per day. The latter compensation would becompensated with meal vouchers after the takeover, although it has not yetbeen determined whether this will cover the full amount.

Several actors and employees of ‘Thuis’ went on strike on May 31 after theannouncement that the soap would no longer be made by the VRT.Image Tim Dirven

And then there is the supplementary pension. This is much higher in the publicsector than in the private sector. Also at their new employer there will befor the Home employees have a pension plan ready, the VRT managementpromises. But what exactly that will look like and how big the difference willbe with the current system is not yet clear.

Which brings us directly to the third pain point: the uncertainty. Sevenmonths ago, VRT CEO Frederik Delaplace announced his intention to stop theproduction of Home known to outsource. At that time, discussions werealready underway with various interested candidates, but who those candidatesare remains a closely guarded secret.

A necessary evil, according to the VRT. Only by keeping the would-be buyers inthe dark about their opponents can they get the most out of the negotiations.But that leads to employee frustration.

“On January 1, we should start working for a new employer, but to this day westill don’t know who that is,” says Krist’l Leskens, who works as an imagemixer at Home works. “Isn’t that a total lack of respect?”

Leah Thys (Marianne).  Image ©VRT

Leah Thys (Marianne).Image © VRT

The trade unions are also disturbed by this working method. They believe thatthe VRT management is monopolizing the negotiations with the potential buyer.“Such a takeover normally takes place while maintaining the current employmentsystems,” the ACOD said. “After which the transferee can then harmonize thevarious systems in consultation with the social partners. What the VRTmanagement in the case of Home does is unseen.”

The latter claim, however, turns out to be incorrect. “It often happens thatemployment conditions are negotiated before the actual takeover,” says JanVanthournout, senior legal manager at SD Worx. At the VRT they also point outthat the management received a mandate from the potential buyers to negotiatewith the unions. In recent months, both parties regularly sat around thetable, but that was not enough to dispel the mistrust.

Ideological view

The last reason why it Home -staff don’t like a move, is the most emotionaland therefore perhaps the most important. Regardless of the conditions underwhich this happens, a large proportion of employees simply do not want toleave the public broadcaster.

Sometimes for practical reasons, for example, many of the employees also workfor other programs and love that variety that you only find at a large companysuch as the VRT. But just as often for ideological views.

“I started working here thirty years ago because I believe in the function ofa public broadcaster and because I wanted to contribute to it,” says Leskens.”And now I’m being coldly kicked out here.”