WILLEMSTAD - Firefighters had a meeting with Shalten Hato, the Minister of Justice, on Thursday afternoon. Topics that came up were the complaints the firefighters had and what could be improved.
Gregory Wilson, a member of the ABVO union, says that agreements were made with the minister, but that they were not fulfilled. Wilson says the fire department wants the same terms of employment as other government agencies.
Wilson says other government agencies, such as the police, have better working conditions than the fire department. As a result, they feel discriminated against. He states that firefighters work 24 hours a day and not in three shifts. They want the fire service to work in three shifts.
The firefighters say that they want to draw attention to their problems in the media every week.
"According to the firefighters, the population has a certain image of how the fire service works, but they have no idea how things really work." They will hear on April 20 which agreements will be met.