2023-08-30 16:00:00
Last June, the management of the ONEM presented a draft of its restructuring plan which would materialize in particular by the abolition of regional offices.
“This announcement had the effect of a typhoon with the staff and with certain partners concerned, denounces the CGSP Admi. Users, but also payment bodies and the local economy will inevitably be impacted by this reform. The agents are revolted not only on the substance but also on the form of this restructuring. They have the strong impression that the only goal is the destruction of their organization by this brutal management which uses outdated methods.”
All at… Mons?
According to the union, this savings plan would particularly impact Picardy Wallonia. “Entire regions will no longer be served, such as the west of Hainaut, with the disappearance of the offices in Tournai, located on rue du Crampon, and in Mouscron, rue du Bilemont, deplores the CGSP-Admi. All staff and all services will indeed be moved to Mons.”
Contacted, the ONEM wishes to temper: “A project to reorganize unemployment offices is actually being analyzed today within ONEM in order to improve efficiency, better meet the needs of social security holders and adapt to new work organizations since the Covid crisis with, among other things, more telework and more computerization, specifies the spokesperson of the ONEM. Whether or not to maintain the Mouscron and Tournai offices in their current form is part of the reflection on our organizational structure. Currently 33 employees work in our Tournai office and 26 in Mouscron.”
While the regional secretary of the CGSP-Admi Wapi, Sylvain Mention, announces that the building in Mouscron has already been sold, the ONEM claims the opposite, “no decision on the organizational structure has been made at this time”. The mayor of Mouscron, Brigitte Aubert was also not informed of any sale. “The building is only partly occupied, she raises. The City had expressed an interest, but we remained at the discussion stage… We have no more information.
“Scandalous and unacceptable”
Brigitte Aubert says she is outraged by the ONEM reorganization project. “What are our citizens going to do? In Mouscron, more than 5,000 files were processed in 2022. It is scandalous and unacceptable to want to send everything to Mons! We cannot accept such a decision, and we must stop to forget Picardy Wallonia!” The mayor of Tournai, Paul-Olivier Delannois, also challenged the Minister of Employment, Pierre-Yves Dermagne, on the issue.
Depending on the evolution of the file, the CGSP-Wapi does not exclude actions during the month of September. “We are waiting to see the final plan to react accordingly, announces Sylvain Mention, regional secretary of the CGSP-Admi Wapi. We must maintain this local and quality service for the citizens of Picardy Wallonia… Mons is far too far for the citizens but also the workers! And even if we are told that hotlines might be maintained, it is not a single person who will be able to respond to all requests and take care of all the more problematic cases!
Already (very!) reduced hours… by appointment!
If this announcement is a new affront to local public service and human contact, they had already been greatly reduced in recent years, especially following the Covid period. Thus, the Tournai office is only accessible on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings… and that only by appointment! The public is thus invited to contact ONEM by telephone (via a single number!), and if only, the employee deems it necessary, he sets an appointment in one of the regional offices. In Mouscron, the office is only open on Wednesday and Thursday mornings. Until when…
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