On Thursday, March 12, 100,000 people joined another national demonstration and strike against the anti-people reforms of the so-called Arizona coalition in Belgium. Trade unions, feminist networks, international solidarity organizations, and many more took to the streets in Brussels to oppose plans to promote and finance militarization at the expense of workers’ salaries and pensions.

“Our main messages today are: first, ‘stop the pension malus,’ because it’s a punishment that will affect people who can’t work until age 67,” Selena Carbonero Fernandez, general secretary of the trade union confederation FGTB-ABVV, told local media ahead of the action. “Second, maintain wage indexation, because it’s one of the best ways to protect purchasing power. Third, break the taboo of new revenue sources and seek revenue from those with the deepest pockets.”

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Over the past year, Belgium has steadily pushed back against Bart De Wever’s administration. “The general strike on March 12 marks a year of sustained action,” Peter Mertens, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB-PVDA), remarked in an interview with Jacobin. “I think this is because the movement’s goals are very popular and support for them runs very deep, especially when it comes to rejecting retirement at 67.”

As part of its program, the government is attempting to force as many people as possible to continue working until age 67 by penalizing them. In this model, for each year of retirement initiated before that age, workers could see their pensions cut by up to 5% annually. Together with other measures originally proposed by the government, for example limiting the extent to which precarious employment should count toward pension, the model has been heavily criticized by progressives.

“The bonus-malus system is unfair,” PTB-PVDA’s pension expert Kim De Witte warned in February. “It penalizes people who start work early, often in arduous occupations and with lower pensions, and rewards people who start work later and already have a good pension.”

Demonstrators during March 12 demonstration. Source: PTB-PVDA/Facebook

Broad and persistent mobilizations, including Thursday’s actions, have won important breakthroughs. According to De Witte’s projections, the overall impact of the reform measures has been reduced by a quarter, and approximately 20,000 workers will avoid penalties on their pensions. “The government is wavering and changing its plans under pressure from the streets,” De Witte said. “Now it’s time to go one step further. The pension reform must be completely swept off the table.”

Trade unionists and left leaders emphasize that resistance to new attacks on workers’ rights and social security must go on, especially considering the dangers faced by the wage indexation system as the working class in Belgium continues to struggle with rising costs of living.

FGTB-ABVV president Bert Engelaar warned that wage indexation is “not a detail” in the overall scheme of things. “Prices are constantly rising, but wages are not keeping pace,” he insisted. “Tampering with indexation is tampering with dignity.”

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Protesters also emphasized the impact that militarization would have on people’s lives. Mertens pointed out that the government’s planned military purchases – including some 1,500 combat vehicles, ammunition, drones and counter-drones, and artificial intelligence – stand in stark contrast to real needs, like quality healthcare and social security. With more money expected to be spent on arms and these services cut, it comes as no surprise that people are angry, progressive forces in Belgium warn.

“If we don’t channel that anger, it will move toward the extreme right,” Mertens added in the interview. He remarked that, in that regard, the ongoing mobilization already represents an organizational victory because it has managed to focus frustration of workers in both public and private sectors against the real culprits – the Arizona government. “When you look at what the other side is saying – that the European economy is in crisis, that we need to remilitarize and deregulate now or our industry will collapse – then simply establishing a different narrative is already a big step forward,” he said.

It is expected that such a narrative will continue to take shape in the coming months. “The backbone of the Belgian economy won’t let them get away with messing around with the wage index and night shift premiums,” Mertens said on the day. “The people who keep this country running refuse to foot the bill for the warmongering of Theo Francken, Belgium’s Defense Minister, and his allies, who want to drag the country into an illegal war that will drive energy prices even higher.”

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