Mateo Alaluf torque
Less than a month after the previous one [voir sur la grève du 31 mars l’article publié sur ce site le 4 avril]at the call of the common union front (general Federation of Labor of Belgium FGTB and Confederation of CSC Christian Unions), Belgium was again on general strike on April 29. Once again, public transport has been stopped, closed airports, canceled flights and the port of Antwerp entirely paralyzed. The strike was widely followed in public services and the private sector. Even justice is in revolt against “an unprecedented government attack on purchasing power and independence of judges”: the courts worked in slow motion and the public prosecutor will no longer carry out the suspension of execution of imprisonment under 5 years old wanted by the Minister of Justice due to prison overcrowding. In all major cities, at the call of unions, demonstrations and gatherings denounced the measures aimed at public services and Social Security.
The movement did not even have a respite during the month which separated the two general strikes: the railways were stopped every Tuesday in April, the teachers led rotating strikes in the week of April 7 to 11, the early childhood sector followed on April 16 and the social services (CPAS) in sub-efficient and unable to welcome the excluded unemployment. While the bosses called the unions “to leave the street and come to negotiate”, they engaged against the unemployment reform an action before the courts and an appeal to the Constitutional Court.
After this new general strike, mobilizations are already scheduled by the unions: actions are scheduled for public services on May 20, on the 22nd a demonstration of the non -market sector and on June 27, on the eve of the holidays, a concentration in Brussels should mark the end of the first phase of the movement against the decisions already taken by the government. To relaunch the movement, a large demonstration is scheduled for September – when a second wave of measures is announced – no doubt more targeted against pension reform and unemployment exclusions [1].
The last legislative elections had led to the formation of a clearly marked government on the right, resolved to press and weaken social security, reduce public services and weaken mutual and union organizations. So much so that the showdown between the Arizona government [2] And the common union front has taken up the aspect of a real settlement of accounts which therefore settles in time [3]. To respond over time, union organizations have designed a real wear strategy by a succession of repetitive strikes and demonstrations.
Will this strategy overcome the government’s determination? Discontent and revolt against “reforms” are great. But are mobilizations without immediate result are not likely to run out of steam? As long as union actions are predictable over time, the government and employers are used to making the round back while waiting for the storm. As a result of activists and union centers suggest tightening the movement. Why not strikes at the finish [arrêt du travail pour une durée indéterminée]? During the gatherings of the 1is May, was present in memories the memory of the 5 weeks of general strike in winter 1960-1961 against a so-called “unique” law precisely aimed at social security and public services that had dropped the government.
Faced with programmed actions, the determination of the government, the most right of the post-war period, seems large. But does the strength of social movements not lie precisely in their unpredictability? (May 2, 2025)
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[1] For daily life The evening From April 28, the secretary general of the CSC, Marie-Hélène SKA, illustrates through a concrete case what this counter-reform implies: “The Cora cashier who, in 2027, will have to register for unemployment at the age of 60. She thinks she will be entitled to more than two years of unemployment because she will have the 32 years of career required. However, these are full -time years, while standard working time at Cora is a 4/5e time. For her, 32 years will not be enough to avoid exclusion. ” (Red.)
[2] Arizona is the name given to the federal government coalition dominated by the Flemish nationalists NVA (yellow color) and the French -speaking liberals MR (blue), also including the Flemish socialists (red) and the Flemish and French -speaking democrats (Orange). These colors correspond to those of the Flag of the State of Arizona. After the success of the right in the last legislative elections, the Arizona coalition succeeded the Vivaldi government in the center left.
[3] Jointly in the union mobilization of April 29, the collective “commune anger” plated the slogan on the finance tower (which is part of the state administrative city): “383 billion in tax evasion: Arizona flies in bad pockets”. A member of the collective declares on a daily basis The evening (April 29): “While workers are summoned to trime more to win less, companies receive a billion euros in reduction in contributions. The government aligns its priorities on the agenda of the Belgian Business Federation (FEB), to the detriment of the vast majority of the population. ” The collective concludes: “There will be no social peace without social justice or social justice without falling from the Arizona government.” (Red.)
