Public broadcaster
The production of ‘Thuis’ was outsourced by the VRT in order to benefit from the financially interesting tax shelter scheme. — © vrt
Just when Frederik Delaplace is already in dire straits, the long-running conflict over the outsourcing of At home back above water. The unions at producer Eyeworks are raising the festering issue with the board of directors of the VRT.
A registered letter from the unions at Eyeworks arrived at the VRT board of directors on Friday. According to the unions, the promises made at the time of the transfer of At home to Eyeworks, the Flemish fiction branch of the American giant Warner Bros., has not been respected. The unions are requesting a meeting with the board of directors about the agreements made.
It was the now resigned program director Ricus Jansegers who hoped to save a lot by outsourcing the successful VRT soap to an external production house. That way, the financially interesting tax shelter scheme could be used. But it also meant that dozens of VRT employees were transferred to a private company against their will.
Four processes
These workers feared losing accrued rights and ending up in other, less pleasant working conditions. The situation has continued to fester over the past two years, with, according to There already resulted in four different legal proceedings.
In one of them, in May 2023, two employees summoned VRT for breaches of European legislation on outsourcing, because their working conditions and workplace had been “significantly changed”. One of the two has since been dismissed.
In that case, the VRT argues that the fault does not lie with the public broadcaster but with Het Thuishuis, the new company in which Eyeworks will produce At home has accommodated. That maneuver slows down the procedure, writes Theremeaning the case will not be heard until June next year.
But there is also broader dissatisfaction among the At home-team. “Warner Bros is trying to get the same work rate for At home to impose as for programs with a limited production time,” a union representative told ThereThere is also a procedure pending from Media Park Development, which had hoped to open the new studio for At home to be allowed to build.
