A-Infos (en) France, OCL, Dossier Belgique: The social movement against the Arizona government (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Since last October, Belgium has been experiencing a large-scale social 
movement reminiscent of the major mobilizations in 2014 against the 
Michel government. With the Arizona government led by Prime Minister 
Bart De Wever, there has been an all-out attack on labor and social 
welfare measures; everything is targeted: unemployment, pensions, wages, 
working conditions, and working hours. From a French perspective, the 
days of strikes appear impressive, with all sectors mobilized, but the 
reality is quite different, as explained to us by four Belgian 
colleagues invited to Lille last March to discuss what is really 
happening. This article largely reflects their remarks. Many thanks to them.

What is the Arizona government?
The last federal legislative elections - as well as regional and 
European elections - took place in June 2024. The Greens and the 
Socialist Party were the big losers, while the center-right and Flemish 
regionalists emerged victorious. In fact, Bart De Wever, leader of the 
N-VA and mayor of Antwerp, was appointed by the King to form a 
government. As is becoming the norm in Belgium, negotiations were 
lengthy, but finally, in February 2025, the Arizona government was 
formed! This name, reminiscent of the Wild West, is a reference to the 
American state flag, which corresponds to the political colors of the 
parties that make up this coalition. These include: the N-VA, which, 
incidentally, siphoned off votes from the Flemish far-right represented 
by Vlaams Belang; the Reformist Movement (liberal right); the Engagés 
(Christian Democrats); Vooruit (Flemish Socialist Party); and CD&V 
(Flemish Christian People's Party). Open VLD (Open Flemish Liberals and 
Democrats). Together, they hold a parliamentary majority of 81 out of 
150 seats, allowing them to pursue a neoliberal-authoritarian agenda. As 
in France, the rhetoric of prioritizing cuts in public spending and the 
public deficit is flourishing. Like Macron's government, they are 
implementing a supply-side policy for capitalists, starting with two 
large public cash handouts: EUR55 billion in aid to businesses and EUR12 
billion in tax cuts for the wealthy. This is clearly a violent 
class-based policy aimed at directly attacking labor in order to appease 
the various bourgeoisie, primarily Flemish shopkeepers, who also form De 
Wever's electoral base. Finally, as elsewhere in Europe, these budget 
cuts are being made in the name of rearmament. In the approved budget, 
34 billion euros are allocated for armaments and the government has 
announced the purchase of 11 American F-35 fighter jets (for a total of 
1.5 billion euros) while at the same time, the federal budget cut 
amounts to more than 11 billion until 2029.

A full-blown attack against workers
During our discussions with our Belgian colleagues, we realized that 
what they are currently experiencing is a microcosm of what has happened 
in France over the past few decades, with a widespread erosion of labor 
rights and hard-won social gains. But in Belgium, the attack is direct 
and swift, like something out of a Western! As a preliminary point, it's 
important to remember that labor reforms are not new and that the 
socialistswho have governed extensively in recent yearshave laid the 
groundwork, perhaps with more attention paid to "social dialogue." Here 
is a list of these attacks, most of which have come into effect since 
the beginning of this year:

1) Pension and early retirement reform: Already in 2023, the legal 
retirement age was raised from 62 to 64. Now, it has been pushed back to 
67, with incremental increases to give the unions something to work 
with. As for early retirement, in companies experiencing difficulties or 
restructuring, the company-supplemented unemployment scheme (RCC) 
allowed workers with long careers (40 years of work and age 60-62) to 
leave their jobs and receive unemployment benefits supplemented by the 
employer. This allowed older workers to transition smoothly by making 
way for younger employees, thus avoiding outright layoffs. This scheme 
has been abolished since July 2025. To better understand this 
regression: in 2015, access to retirement at age 55 was generally 
possible after 35 years of service...
2) Unemployment benefit reform: Since the post-war social compromise, 
unemployment benefits were virtually unlimited in Belgiumthat's over! 
Since January, unemployment benefits are limited to a maximum of two 
years, and you must prove five years of work to be fully eligible. To 
leave unemployment, you must sign a fixed-term contract of more than 
three months, but many workers string together short-term contracts. 
Ultimately, this is a very hard blow for the 180,000 benefit recipients. 
This is compounded by the increased scrutiny from FOREM (the Walloon 
Office for Vocational Training and Employment). For example, you have to 
prove that you are "intensely" seeking workthis is deliberately vague, 
but one advisor explained that it means responding to at least five job 
offers per day! After unemployment benefits end, many people will only 
receive the RIS, the social integration income (similar to the RSA in 
France), paid by the CPAS (Public Social Action Centers). Here again, a 
reform reduces payments if the person lives with someone; the government 
justifies this by invoking family solidarity, which prevents people from 
becoming homeless... So there are social investigations where they check 
your living situation. Many people are forced to lie, to hide the truth, 
to rent a second mailbox. The government uses the argument of family 
solidaritywhat a load of rubbish!
3) Extended working hours and capped wages: workdays and workweeks can 
now extend up to 12 hours per day and 45 hours per week, while wage 
indexation is capped. Weekend work is made more readily available, and 
night work regulations have been modified, which is a significant boon 
to employers in industry, logistics, e-commerce, and other sectors. 
Theoretically, night work (from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.) was prohibited in 
Belgium, but exceptionsnegotiated and signed with unionsallowed for good 
compensation. These exceptions have been expanded, and, most 
importantly, the overtime hours have been reduced for new employees: 
from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., they are now 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.
4) Increased labor flexibility: "Flexijobs" have existed since 2015. 
This is a contract where the worker agrees to perform a supplementary 
job for an employer, provided that the worker is already employed by one 
or more other employers at a rate of 4/5 of full-time. This provides tax 
advantages for both the worker and the employer. Currently, 
approximately 220,000 people are in "flexijobs," the majority of whom 
are retirees. The ongoing reform is expanding the types of jobs possible 
with this type of contract. Pensioners can earn up to EUR18,000 per year 
in flexijobs. At the same time, nearly 200,000 working-class people are 
losing their entitlement to unemployment benefits because they cannot 
find work.
5) Youth employment: the minimum age was 16, and they want to lower it 
to 15, even though schooling is still compulsory. Typically, a 
15-year-old could do two hours of "light work" (cloakroom attendant, 
parcel delivery, sales and product placement in storesbut who's really 
going to check?) every day after school, a maximum of 12 hours per week. 
During the holidays, the young person could work eight hours a day, the 
equivalent of a full-time adult job. This is a huge step backward, 
especially considering that young people are often less vocal in their 
demands and more prone to workplace accidents.
6) Student employment from age 18: the threshold increases from 600 to 
650 hours, or 15 to 16 hours per week, with the income cap for this type 
of contract rising from EUR12,000 to EUR18,000. According to official 
figures, 50% of students work while studying. Meanwhile, in the French 
Community (now known as the Wallonia-Brussels Federation), university 
registration fees (the "minerval") are increasing. The flat rate of 
EUR835 is gone, replaced by four tiers with a maximum of EUR1,194 for a 
year of university. For international and non-EU students, it's even 
worse! The minimum monthly income required to obtain a student visa 
increases from EUR835 to EUR1,062 net per month. We could also talk 
about the attacks on the right to asylum and the hunt for undocumented 
immigrants which is intensifying in Belgium, as in France and in the EU.
8) Restrictions on sick leave: the government wants to put long-term 
sick people back to work, along with increased controls. Under these 
conditions, it's hard to imagine the person getting better!
9) Widespread attack against public services and associations. On the 
association side, there are significant cuts in subsidies, which can be 
disastrous for some - particularly in the social sector - that provide 
access to healthcare for the most vulnerable, for example. Recently in 
Brussels, the Athena medical center had to close, plunging hundreds of 
users into a state of health insecurity. Austerity measures are also in 
place for health and education. In the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, the 
regional government, a center-right coalition of the MR and Les Engagés 
parties, wants to impose two additional hours of classes in upper 
secondary schools. A mobilization is underway, with a large 
demonstration in the capital on April 9th.

What about the mobilization?
Faced with these massive and widespread attacks, union co-management is 
being shaken, and the three major unions (FGTB, CSC, and CGSLB) are 
organizing a mobilization calendar that remains timid and largely 
insufficient to hope to establish a balance of power with the ruling 
bourgeoisie. Fourteen mobilizations have taken place in the sixteen 
months since the Arizona government came to power. Some notable days 
include October 14th, with a massive strike and national demonstration 
in Brussels that brought together more than 140,000 people; November 
24th, 25th, and 26th, with three consecutive days of strikes, 
unfortunately in different sectors each time; and March 12th, with 
100,000 people in Brussels. Between each day of action, there are long 
gaps due to the summer months and the holiday season at the end of the 
year. There was an initiative to maintain pressure on the 13th of each 
month, but this only worked in Brussels and only initially. People are 
exhausted from doing a little work and then going back to their regular 
jobs. It's tragic to see union bureaucracies locking down the schedule 
and stifling grassroots demands. At the same time, it's the historical 
role of co-managing unions to prevent class struggle from escalating. 
Let's remember that in Belgium, strike days are paid for union members, 
between 40 and 50 euros per day!

Let's remain positive, though, because things are still stirring in many 
sectors. Transportation is traditionally at the forefront of the 
struggle, with buses and trains, but the minimum service at SNCB (the 
Belgian National Railway Company) is preventing a total shutdown. It's 
worth noting that in the rail sector, there aren't only the three major 
unions; there are two other unions with a more libertarian and 
revolutionary bent that aren't involved in co-management. The social and 
education sectors are also heavily mobilized. During strike days, picket 
lines allow for the transmission of protest tactics and a certain class 
consciousness. On the ground, strikers are taking the initiative to set 
up blockades in industrial parks. As for the atmosphere at 
demonstrations, the riotous tendencies are mainly expressed in Brussels. 
As in France, there are autonomous marches with direct action tactics. 
This has become widespread since 2014 and the social movement against 
the Michel government. At that time, dockworkers managed to push back 
the police. But the police are also hitting harder and using tear gas 
extensively against demonstrations. Protesting is no longer a walk in 
the park; it's a double-edged sword because some people no longer dare 
to go out into the streets, but the increase in repression also provokes 
anger and revolt, which can lead to a radicalization of practices.

The road to pushing back against capitalists remains long, and union 
bureaucracies are also an obstacle. Everything remains highly 
fragmented, with sectoral mobilizations, for example, between the 
non-profit and for-profit sectors. There are few opportunities to 
present a united front, an important concept in Belgian social life. 
This is also due to federalization and pillarization (see previous 
article), which lead to the separation of workers along linguistic and 
nationalist lines. One way or another, these divisions will have to be 
overcome. In short, the class struggle is not a sprint but a marathon. 
We urgently need to train to complete it and, who knows, maybe even win!

Action in Charleroi in front of RTBF
Go all the way, everywhere, all the time!
A single day of strike action here and there isn't enough because 
employers are well-informed thanks to the mandatory ten-day notice 
period, giving them ample time to prepare and minimize their losses. 
There is the "strike to the finish" method, which involves striking 
without a set end date until results are achieved, in order to truly 
build a power dynamic with capital. However, this strategy won't come 
from the major unions, as the left wing of the union movement is 
practically extinct within them. There have been periods of intense 
internal protest, but this is no longer the case. Consider the Clabecq 
steelworks strikes, which began in 1995, where a section of the FGTB 
(General Federation of Belgian Labour) fought against the factory's 
closure. After two years of internal struggle with management, the 
section was expelled from the union, while the legal battle with the 
employer continues to this day. Since then, there have been further 
small-scale attempts, but none have been successful. This isn't about 
dogmatic anti-union rhetoric; we have to work with what exists, and many 
sincere comrades remain in unions simply to be part of a collective and 
defend themselves in their daily work. The rank and file aren't 
apathetic; there's a lot of grumbling in meetings, but everything 
remains under their control for the time being. However, the Belgian 
union landscape is evolving, and union membership is declining sharply 
among young people, those in precarious employment, and mobile workers. 
According to a study by the German Institute for Economic Research (IW), 
the unionization rate fell from 52.4% in 2016 to 39% in 2023. Among 
employees aged 16 to 30, it's only 24.5%! This is historically low and 
leaves the door open to other forms of organization while also 
highlighting the atomization of the working class.
Spaces for organizing outside of unions exist. In response to the 
Arizona government's attacks, "healthcare workers in struggle" and 
"angry school workers" collectives are emerging, such as "Mars Attack," 
which organizes the fight against education reforms in the 
French-speaking region. We can also mention the General Assembly of the 
psycho-medical-social sector in Brussels, which unites employees of 
small organizations that don't necessarily have union representation. 
Brussels firefighters are also organizing independently, as is the 
cultural sector. Recently, there was an attempt at an inter-professional 
assembly to federate all these initiatives. It remains to be seen how 
this will develop. Finally, we should mention mobilizations outside of 
traditional social movements, which also create spaces for class 
conflict and awareness-raising. In Belgium, the movement against the 
genocide in Gaza and against rearmament is significant, with regular 
actions (see the news briefs). From all these initiatives, we can hope 
for grassroots organization, a radical resistance against the attacks of 
the bourgeoisie, which, for its part, is already prepared for battle. As 
the good guy said in "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly": "The world is 
divided into two categories: those who have a loaded gun and those who 
dig. You dig." Let's be on the right side of the gun!

Margat

BELGIAN NEWS BRIEFS
Belgium. No Eurovision with Israel!

On March 28, demonstrations were held in several Belgian cities 
(Charleroi, Namur, etc.) in front of the regional offices of the Belgian 
Radio and Television of the French Community (RTBF), to challenge the 
public broadcaster on its responsibility and demand a position 
consistent with the principles of respect for international law and 
human rights. Activists called on RTBF to withdraw from the Eurovision 
Song Contest as long as Israel participates, to refrain from 
broadcasting the contest under these conditions, and to refrain from 
sending a Belgian representative. Artists, unions, and civil society 
organizations denounced Israel's presence at an international cultural 
event while the war against the Palestinian people, particularly in 
Gaza, continues. In response, several European public broadcasters, 
notably in the Netherlands, Spain, and Slovenia, announced their 
withdrawal from the contest, deeming it impossible to maintain a neutral 
stance in such a context. In Belgium, RTBF and Flemish television 
confirmed their participation, while broadcasting unions called for a 
boycott of the contest. Some artists chose to withdraw from the event. 
Belgian singer Loïc Nottet, in particular, announced that he would not 
participate due to Israel's presence. Eurovision presents itself as a 
space for cultural cooperation between peoples. But this ideal cannot 
serve as a pretext for ignoring serious crimes. In 2022, Russia was 
excluded from the contest less than 24 hours after the invasion of 
Ukraine in order to protect the event's reputation. It is legitimate to 
question the absence of a similar decision today.

Belgium condemned by the European Court of Human Rights.

What's the deal? Inflicting "degrading treatment" on four asylum seekers 
left homeless during the winter of 2022, despite a Belgian court order 
requiring the state to provide them with shelter. But the government at 
the time (a coalition of various political parties: the Liberals, 
Socialists, Flemish Christian Democrats, and Greens) ignored the court, 
even refusing to pay the penalties for this violation of the law. The 
European Court of Human Rights has now ordered the state to compensate 
these victims. The current Arizona government is acting as if it has 
blocked ears, as it continues to implement the same illegal policy of 
refusing asylum and trampling on the human rights of asylum seekers 
every day.

Action against Thales in Tubize

On Friday, March 27, several dozen people gathered in front of the 
Thales company to denounce its complicity in ongoing imperialist wars, 
notably the genocide in Palestine and the wars in Lebanon and Iran waged 
by Israel and the US. They defied the initial ban on gatherings and 
symbolically formed a human launchpad, launching a blood-covered 
papier-mâché rocket over the company's gate. Their demands were: the 
cessation of arms sales and, more generally, all trade and collaboration 
with Israel; the cessation of trade and collaboration with far-right 
regimes, including, for example, the US government, which uses ICE to 
divide the population and imprison certain categories of people in 
"detention" camps; and the reorientation of Thales' activities toward 
civilian pursuits.

The number of voluntary overtime hours increases from 220 to 360 hours 
per year.?

Voluntary? Yes, that just means they don't require the approval of the 
union delegation... Two-thirds (240 hours) will be tax-free and won't 
entitle you to overtime pay or time off in lieu. In the HORECA sector 
(Hotels, Restaurants, and Cafés), it's the same framework but with a 
maximum of 450 hours. It's safe to say that promoting these hours will 
reduce the need to hire new employees. We'll work ourselves to 
exhaustion while the unemployed will die in poverty.

Sandro, correspondent in Belgium

https://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4708
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