Over 90% of bpost's Dutch-speaking staff is proficient in French, compared to less than 40% of Francophone staff. © Belga

An overwhelming majority of staff in Brussels’ post offices cannot speak Dutch, according to recent figures which reveal a new instance of infringement of bilingualism laws.

Out of the total 34 post offices in Brussels, only 16 are staffed with employees capable of speaking in Dutch, new figures released by Post and Telecoms Minister Philippe De Backer show.

“The language law is not being complied with and the Flemish bear the brunt of it,” Vlaams Belang MP Barbara Pas said, reacting to the figures, Bruzz reports.

Brussels post offices employ a total of 237 people, out of which the numbers show only 42 fill a Dutch-speaking role, amounting to less than 20% of bpost’s workforce.

The new data further show significant discrepancies regarding the bilingual skills of Dutch and French-speakers.

While 38 out of the 42 staffers in a Dutch-speaking role (90.5%) are certified bilinguals, only 39.5% of their Francophone counterparts hold the same certificate.

“It cannot be that, in 2020, people do not speak the language of the majority of the population,” Pas told Bruzz, adding that the post office needed to recruit more Dutch-speakers or, alternatively, get Francophone employees to obtain a bilingualism certificate.

Gabriela Galindo

The Brussels Times