Approximately 140,000 people took to the streets of Brussels on October 14, 2025, answering the call of Belgium’s trade unions to oppose the austerity plans of Bart De Wever’s government. Demonstrators arrived from across the country, making this one of the largest labor mobilizations in years.

“People came from all over Belgium, from all walks of life: workers, employees from both the public and private sectors, from all the professions that keep society running,” said Raoul Hedebouw, leader of the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB-PVDA). “A total of 140,000 people who are fed up with this government’s social destruction.”

Prime Minister De Wever’s administration has pressed ahead with plans to cut workplace protections and freeze income while increasing military spending, including the purchase of new F-35 fighter jets. “With its summer agreement, the government is further reducing social security, social rights, and purchasing power, and therefore the future prospects of the population,” said the trade union FGTB-ABVV. “On the other hand, it has found money to buy more drones and warplanes.”

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Trade unions and the PTB-PVDA have warned that certain groups of workers will be hit hardest by the reforms – particularly women, who risk being penalized for taking maternity leave if they cannot produce the required documentation. “The government intends to deliberately steal from thousands of women who took maternity leave before 2003,” FGTB-ABVV activists wrote in Syndicats Magazine. “These women will bear the ‘burden of proof’ for this leave. Otherwise, what? Their maternity leave will simply not be counted in their pension calculations. This is a discriminatory choice, and a deliberate one. It shows a total lack of respect.”

Feminists against Arizona coalition. Source: Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB-PVDA)

But all workers are expected to suffer under the new wave of austerity: younger employees will face weaker protections on night work, while those retired or nearing retirement could see their pensions slashed. “Figures from the Federal Pension Service show that 30% of people – 70% of whom are women – will lose an average of 318 euros per month. That’s a third of their pension,” said Thierry Bodson, head of the FGTB-ABVV, in a recent interview. “For many, that automatically means falling below the poverty line.”

“Investing in weapons and cutting back on pensions is a political choice,” Hedebouw wrote ahead of the mobilization. “By 2070, pension spending would rise by 2% of GDP, which the Reformist Movement (Mouvement réformateur) claims is impossible [to fund]. Yet increasing defense budgets by 2% over ten years is entirely possible for them.”

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The government has attempted to dismiss the unions’ and the left’s analyses but largely failed to do so, only managing to offer vague assurances that pensions would not be cut and protections would be preserved. “All these distortions, half-truths, and blatant lies prove one thing: the government is under pressure,” Hedebouw said.

“What we feel today is incredible energy, collective pride, and great determination,” he added on the day of the demonstration. “A force that can only grow if the government doesn’t back down. Together, we can make them back down. Together, we can win.”

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