Fight Back News Service is circulating the following message of condolences from the leadership of Freedom Road Socialist Organization to the Workers Party of Belgium.

November 16, 2022

To: Workers Party of Belgium

From: Freedom Road Socialist Organization

Dear Comrades,

We were saddened to hear the news of the passing of Jean Pestieau, and we send out condolences to the Workers Party of Belgium and Jean’s family and friends.

As a leading comrade in the PTB International Department, comrade Jean was friend, advisor and inspiration to revolutionaries around the world. He had was extremely knowledgeable, yet modest. He was friendly and diplomatic, yet firm on issues of principle. Jean was always ready to answer questions and explain his point of view in a down-to-earth way. He was an example of what a communist should be.

Many leading comrades of Freedom Road Socialist Organization had the opportunity to met with Jean, and the comrade played a role in the development of our organization. We benefited greatly from his political clarity and helpful advice. When we met with the PTB in the mid-1990s, a period before the internet, it made a huge difference to find comrades who were thinking along the same lines as we were.

Comrade Jean was an outstanding fighter for socialism who never doubted that humanity has a socialist future. He will be missed by many.

In solidarity,

Mick Kelly

Political Secretary of the Standing Committee of the Central Committee

Freedom Road Socialist Organization

#UnitedStates #WorkersPartyOfBelgium #Belgium #Europe

After a phenomenal and social campaign, the Belgian Workers' Party (PTB-PVDA) has confirmed its progress throughout the country, with results ranging from 6.6% in Flanders to over 12% in Brussels and 13.5% in Wallonia. The genuine left thus sends 12 members to the federal parliament, 1 member to the European Parliament, 11 members to the Brussels Parliament, 4 members to the Flemish Parliament and 10 members to the Walloon Parliament. In addition, the PTB will have 4 senators. The number of PTB parliamentarians therefore, increases from 8 to 42. At the national level, the PTB has become the 5th largest party among the 12 parties with elected representatives. In his victory speech in Antwerp, PTB chairman Peter Mertens said: “He who fights can lose. He who does not fight has already lost,” said Bertolt Brecht. We fought. Like David against Goliath. Well-paid people said Goliath would win. They said they would bury David. They said that in Flanders, this would not happen. Well, no, no. We are David. We fought. And we won!” After the 2 seats in the federal parliament won in 2014, with Raoul Hedebouw and Marco Van Hees, this is the first time that the PTB sends deputies to the federal parliament from Flanders, where the situation is much more on the right than in Wallonia.

Mertens: “During this campaign, the PTB imposed a debate on matters of concern to the people: 6% VAT on energy, free public transport, the cost of health care, tax injustice. Having to work longer years, the people are fed up with. Having to work more flexibly, the people are fed up with. The people are fed up with a society where the rich are getting richer and richer and the poor are getting poorer.”

But we also have to face the rise of the far right, with Vlaams Belang coming second in Flanders, tripling its score and getting 18.5% in northern Belgium. “The rise of the far right must incite all traditional parties to reflect,” continues Peter Mertens. “They have an important responsibility. And they repeated that the N-VA [the largest party, Flemish nationalist and right-wing] was a barrier against the far right. But it's a bridge for her! The far right divides people, spreads hatred. We, the authentic left, are fighting for solidarity, for the unity of the workers. Our social security is united, our country remains united and the PTB is united. The far right has nothing to offer the people. It is up to us to prove it: fascism will not pass!“

Raoul Hedebouw, national spokesperson and federal member of Parliament for the PTB, talks about “a major bright red breakthrough on May 26”. He continued: “We need a real break for social and fiscal justice. This is an important signal for all traditional parties. But what do we see? None of them are currently questioning themselves. “

For the first time in its history, the PTB will send a representative to the European Parliament: Marc Botenga, with 14.5% of the vote for the French-speaking constituency. He congratulated all those who “propelled this ‘spicy’ left that appears everywhere, in companies, in neighborhoods, .” “Now we have a left locomotive that will be able to move the lines also at the European level. The genuine left will be necessary to offer an alternative to the far right and to the policies of Macron or Merkel, which open the way to the far right with their Europe of competition, austerity and money. “

The PTB considers that it conducted its best election campaign ever. On this point, the party chairman, Peter Mertens, said at the election evening in Antwerp: “What a dynamic, what an enthusiasm, what a commitment! And I would like to begin by applauding all the volunteers and militants who have worked in all the provinces, often in the shadows, often under difficult circumstances. They are people who make a difference, ordinary people, extraordinary people who act together... We can only do it together. Together, we have a world to win! “

#Belgium #PeoplesStruggles #PTB #WorkersPartyOfBelgium #Europe

Tuesday, April 22, public services in Belgium were on strike, responding to the call of the socialist trade union CGSP (General Central of Public Services, Member of the FGTB), exactly seven months after the citizens movement “Hart Boven Hard” conducted its first actions against austerity in Flanders. The next day, September 23, 2014, the trade union front held its first demonstration. At the time, the federal government was still in its infancy.

Where is the government now, after seven months of social resistance?

The federal government has tried to break the resistance by undermining the strong points of the movement: the united front of the trade unions, the interprofessional nature of the movement, the unity between the North and the South of the country. But this did not prevent the CGSP to call for a 24 hour-strike. On 29 March, no less than 20,000 participants at the Great Parade of “Tout Autre Chose / Hart Boven Hard” didn't let themselves be intimidated by this government. As did not the 35,000 militants the week after, when they organized protest actions, from March 30 to April 1. For seven months the social resistance stood firm. No struggle movement in Belgium has held for so long.

The government under pressure

Seven months of social struggle has held the government constantly under pressure. The N-VA (the largest party in Flanders and in government, very Rightist and nationalist) dreamed of a Flemish government and a federal government that would quickly and drastically implement a whole series of fundamental socio-economic reforms. The federal government, formed in October 2014, started like a bulldozer : skip the adjustment of salaries to the price index, a wage freeze, raising the age of retirement to 67, the dismantling of all advanced pension systems, reduced allocations for public utilities ( railways, culture,...) And all this for the benefit of big business and the super-rich.

But after seven months of social struggle, the government yet had to leave its bulldozer in the garage.

During the March 2015 budget control, no drastic measures were announced yet – such as a rise in

VAT or 1.2 billion in new cuts.

The Flemish government – led by Minister President Bourgeois, N-VA – suddenly even wanted to

allow for a budget deficit of 550 million, while the Flemish government agreement expressly advocated a balanced budget. Seven months of social resistance has meant that the famous speech of N-VA president Bart De Wever – “this is not part of the government's coalition agreement” – landed in the trash can.

Also the Walloon government faced social opposition to its austerity measures, such as the decision not to replace four civil servants of every five that would go on leave.

Why did these governments have to take a break? Why did the bulldozer remain in the garage at the recent exercise of budget control? For one reason: social resistance.

The big employers have more reservations regarding the government

It’s the big employers who wanted this government. It’s the employers' federations which dictated the coalition agreement. But the strikes have given them the fear of their lives. The daily De Morgen noted in its file on the availability of early retirees: “The N-VA believed to have the employers eat from its hand. But in recent times, this alliance seems somewhat floundering. (...) There is a divergence of views on how to shape policies. If it can buy them social peace, the employers opt for the path of gradualism.”

The big bang did not happen

Media commentators also noticed this change. De Standaard wrote on March 5: “The N-VA was convinced that a government without the Socialist Party would be able to implement important socioeconomic reforms. Now it turns out that this big bang did not take place. At most there is an opportunity to advance slowly, step by step, through the back door, we can read from the lips of

Timmermans, the head of the FEB (Belgian Employers Federation).”

Cabinet bickering and profiling

Another fallout of seven months of social struggle is the permanent bickering between the N-VA and

CD&V (Flemish Christian Democratic Party, also member of the government). One has the impression that since the strike of 15 December, their opinions differ on almost everything: the activation of early

retirees, skipping the index for housing rental, the “tax shift”, the VAT increase, the mistery calls (to detect racist recruitment practices by companies), start-up jobs, the presence of paratroopers in the streets,... With these quarrels, the government is trying to achieve two things.

One. Everyone plays his own role to serve his own base. The N-VA acts as the defender of harsh austerity policies, while the CD&V assumes the “social” role. This also has an electoral dimension.

The business paper De Tijd explained how, for example, the hate speech that Bart De Wever used against the Berber people was meant to “to keep voters on board who in recent years had left Vlaams

Belang (the openly facsist party) for the N-VA”. De Tijd continued: “But it's not just the Flemish nationalists who think in terms of strategy. Open VLD (the liberal party) and CD&V also have the firm intention to win back some of their voters that have switched to the N-VA. This explains why not only the opposition parties but also the coalition partners have made venomous remarks against De Wever.

“Some days ago, Flemish Minister President Geert Bourgeois suddenly said he wanted to take another close look at the money transfers between Flanders and Wallonia. This Flemish nationalistic remark was meant to keep Vlaams Belang voters on board or, as Le Soir said: “He must regularly address the nationalist electorate.”

Two. All these squabbles are also used to confuse the social resistance, by camouflaging the fact that N-VA and CD&V continue together to try and shape their anti-social policies.

Wanted: a new plan of action and a reaffirmation of the 4 breaking points

This mystification also shows that this government has not been successful. Le Soir wrote: “Charles Michel is in need of everyone in order to deal with a social movement that has not really exploded, but that does not weaken either; and that remains a potential threat to the government.”

It is the strength of a new action plan and the reaffirmation of the four breaking points that can reinvigorate the movement or, to put it in the words of Le Soir, let it “explode” and force the government to withdraw its anti-social measures. The social movement can defeat this government

#Belgium #Labor #Europe #PeoplesStruggles #WorkersPartyOfBelgium

On Monday, Dec. 15, Belgium was paralyzed by a general strike, organized by the major trade union centers, after a series of regional strikes, to protest the Rightist government's harsh austerity measures.

“This is the biggest strike in Belgium in thirty years”, said Peter Mertens, chairman of the Workers' Party of Belgium (PTB), who paid solidarity visits to several picketlines. “Action took place in almost all sectors, the roads were deserted, the active population decided not to go to work. The people have thus given a clear signal: it is really time for other policies, in which the people take center stage, and that dare to invest in social renewal.”

Throughout the country and in a united front of the trade unions, railway workers, nurses, teachers, metal workers, dockers, artists, students,... showed their rage and made the general strike of Dec. 15 the most 'generalized' general strike since 30 years. All major industrial sectors, the transportation sector and the public services came to a standstill, but also many small and medium enterprises, shopping centers, schools, hospitals and other non-profit institutions were on strike – some of them for the first time in their existence.

And all this notwithstanding the heavy pressures the employers brought to bear on the workers: invitation to stay overnight at their workplaces, financial pressure to come to work, the use of notices of default by bailiffs and even the threat of delocalization. Peter Mertens: “Today, by the force of their numbers and using the weapon of the general strike, the workers have put pressure on the godfathers of the Rightist government of Michel (liberal) and De Wever (Flemish nationalist): the large corporations and their employers' federations.”

A new and encouraging phenomenon is that the citizens' movements 'Heart above Hard' (Dutch-language) and 'Tout autre chose' (French-language, meaning 'Something entirely different'), together representing more than 1000 organizations, joined the strike movement, with bicycle tours and visits to picketlines in several major cities. The extent of the strike movement in schools and universities is yet another indication of the broadness of the movement, that even got the support of magistrates, small shop keepers and medical associations.

Peter Mertens: “At the picketlines we could feel the growing dissatisfaction with the government's deafness for the workers' demands. But also the great determination to continue the movement after the winter truce, if the government doesn't retreat on key elements of its plans, such as the postponement of the age of retirement to 67 years of age, the skipping of an indexation of salaries to price rises, or the dismantling of public services and social security.”

Meanwhile, in the protest movement the need for alternatives is growing. Five years after the PTB launched its campaign for a millionnaires' tax, there is a much larger support base for such a measure, with 85% of the population supporting the demand to tax fortunes above 1 million euro. “A genuine tax on fortunes is the only way to really diminish the increasing inequality in society”, according to Peter Mertens. “The only reason that the government has never thought of implementing such a tax measure, is the fact that the influence of the very rich on the government circles is too important. The government rests fossilized in its own tunnel vision that 'there is no alternative'. But the problem is that Mr. Michel and Mr. De Wever refuse to see the alternatives that exist.

Instead of the deadly austerity policies, destroying the social and cultural fabric of society, we plead for new investments in the social, ecological and industrial spheres. Instead of handing over ever larger parts of society to the market, we want strong public services to be the backbone of a democratic renewal. And instead of grabbing the money from the pockets of those who need it, we propose to activate the dormant wealth of the transnational corporations.”

Raoul Hedebouw, PTB spokesman and member of the federal parliament, was also present at several picketlines in the provinces of Limburg and Liège. He noted: “Everywhere we go, we observe a great openness for real alternatives. The more than 900 PTB militants were received very warmly at the more than 1000 picketlines they visited in solidarity. In the coming days and weeks, they will continue to invest in the broad and ongoing movement to make the anti-social government retreat.”

#Belguim #Europe #generalStrike #Belgium #WorkersPartyOfBelgium

Antwerp, Belgium – On Nov. 24 a regional general strike was organized in four Belgian provinces by the trade unions. This is part of a broader strike movement, to culminate in a national general strike on Dec. 15. The protest movement is directed against the harsh austerity measures imposed on the workers by the rightist government of Prime Minister Charles Michel and the leader of the Flemish nationalist party Bart De Wever, who is also mayor of Antwerp.

This first day of action was a success: the strike was almost complete in Antwerp, the industrial heart of Belgium, in Hainaut, the historical center of social resistance, and in the provinces of Limburg and Luxemburg. Transportation by boat was completely paralyzed and the docks of the port of Antwerp came to a complete standstill. Also public transportation, buses and trains, were largely on strike.

“Today, everybody has learnt a lesson of economy: without the workers, no wealth! And the strikers are well determined to make the government withdraw, affirming that the strike will be even larger on 15 December, the day of the national general strike,” said Workers Party of Belgium (PTB) chairman Peter Mertens, who visited the picket lines in the Antwerp region from 5:00 a.m. onward.

The strike paralyzed the major industrial sectors in the affected provinces: from Caterpillar (Hainaut) to Ford Genk (Limburg) and Van Hool and Daf (Antwerp); and from the petrochemical industry in Antwerp to that of Feluy and NMLK in Hainaut, passing by Tessenderlo in Limburg and up to Ferrero in Luxemburg.

The strike also touched many small and medium enterprises, while also numerous industrial 'zonings' were blocked. Many schools, day care centers and municipal administrations were closed, as were major hospitals and shopping centers. In several towns, meetings and demonstrations were held, with a remarkable participation of groups and associations from the cultural and academic world, small businessmen and shop keepers, pensioners and jobless.

A movement carried by diverse layers of society

Personalities from the cultural world were present at picket lines in Antwerp. A cycling tour organized by the citizens' movement Heart Above Hard gathered more than 1000 people in Antwerp, who thereafter joined the trade unionists at a meeting in the Roma hall, which was completely filled. There were also actions of the network fighting poverty, and from employees of the homes of the elderly.

“The strike movement is to a large extent carried by diverse layers of society who all put into question the project of society of the Michel-De Wever team. A project tailored to the needs of a small group of big stakeholders, while the rest of society has to pay up. Everywhere we heard the same demand: this time it is up to the wealthiest, to the millionaires to pay, as they have been completely spared by the government up till now”, Peter Mertens added.

“The strikers also defended the right to work of the jobless, who are being chased by the government, and of the thousands of public sector workers at the municipal, regional and federal levels, who are threatened in their job security. They defended the right of the youth to have a stable job and future, and the right to rest of the elder workers, who don't want to see their job careers prolonged with two to seven years. They clearly and loudly voiced out that their salaries are part of the solution, not of the problem, and that skipping their indexation to the cost of living or blocking the salaries will not pass. The government's measures, copied from the German or Dutch models, will plunge the country in a recession. This day of action is an encouragement for the upcoming days of strike on 1, 8 and 15 December. Yes, the pressure is mounting to make the government and its godfathers, the Flemish and Belgian employers' organizations (VOKA and FEB) withdraw,” concluded the PTB chairman.

In the four provinces involved in the strike, PTB delegations visited no less than 314 picket lines, bringing their warm support and solidarity to the strikers.

Raoul Hedebouw, PTB deputy in the federal parliament, who crisscrossed the province of Hainaut, said: “Everywhere we were received most warmly. Everywhere we felt the anger against the measures regarding the end of the job career and the pensions, the indexation and the salaries, the destruction of public services. But we also felt, in the North as in the South of the country, the strikers' desire to offer another perspective to their children than that of austerity imposed by the government of Michel-De Wever. The popularity of the alternative to make the big fortunes pay is growing. After the demonstration with 120,000 people, on Nov. 6 in Brussels, today's strike is yet another important democratic action that shows that a large part of the population is questioning the legitimacy of this government which, since its very inception, has sided with the wealthy. A movement of social resistance, with a real alternative, is on the march.”

#AntwerpBelgium #Antwerp #Labor #WorkersPartyOfBelgium #Belgium #strikes #Europe

On 25 May three elections took place in Belgium: for the federal, regional and European parliaments. The main winner turns out to be the Flemish nationalist party N-VA (Rightist), obtaining more than 33% of the vote in Flanders. But there is also the major advance of the Workers' Party of Belgium (PTB), making its entry in the federal parliament and in the regional parliaments of Wallonia and Brussels.

Raoul Hedebouw, for the province of Liège, and Marco Van Hees, for Hainaut, have been elected to the federal parliament on the list PTB-go! Raoul Hedebouw, the PTB's spokesman, “For the first time in 25 years, a new political family, genuinely Leftist, and active in Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels makes its entry in the federal and regional parliaments. We send two deputies to the federal parliament, two to the regional parliament of Wallonia and four to the Brussels parliament. “

In Wallonia, the PTB-go! gets 5,81% of the vote (and in the province of Liège 8,30%), making it the fifth political force in the South of Belgium. In Brussels, the list gets 3,84%, and thanks to a technical agreement with some small lists, the undemocratic threshold of 5% could be surpassed, giving the PTB-go! no less than four seats in the Brussels parliament.

In Flanders the PTB has waged an exemplary election campaign in a very difficult political context, with the dominance of the Flemish nationalist N-VA, the existence of the fascist party VB and the Green party in a comfortable situation of opposition. In these conditions, and with the 5% threshold, unfortunately the PTB was not able to get its chairman, Peter Mertens, elected, although it got a honorable result of 4,52% in the province of Antwerp and 8,85% in the city of Antwerp, making it the fourth largest party there.

As regards the elections for the European Parliament, the PTB-go! received 5,49% of the vote, largely insufficient to obtain a seat (Belgium has only 21 seats in the EP, to be divided over the different language groups).

On election evening, Peter Mertens told party militants gathered in Antwerp, “120 years ago, the first Belgian socialist, Edouard Anseele, who hailed from the Flemish city of Ghent, was elected in the Walloon city of Liège. Anseele spoke the language of the working class. Today, Raoul Hedebouw has been elected in Liège as well, and he will also speak the language of the entire working class. We are a national party that cannot be divided, nor by place of birth nor by the language spoken at the kitchen table. For us, what prevails is the social interest of the people, of all people in this country.”

“During this long election campaign, we have laid the foundations for a strong social current at the grassroots level, and we will absolutely need this in the years to come. Our commitment is to defend the interests of the working class, in all its diversity; of the youth, with all its dynamism; of the voiceless, of those whom this society considers as nothing but numbers; of all people who are going through difficult times. “

Raoul Hedebouw, national spokesman of the PTB, echoed these words at the party meeting in Liège, “As member of parliament elected for a national party, I will also be the representative of the workers of Flanders, in Antwerp, Limburg and Ghent. And no, the votes for the PTB are not protest votes, they are votes of hope. Votes for a Left that refuses austerity policies, that believes that we, the workers, will further build up self-confidence in order to be able to write the social history of this country. We warn the traditional parties: if you plan to impose more austerity measures as is the case elsewhere in Europe, you will find yourselves confronted with the PTB deputies, as with the workers who want to stop these policies of budget cuts.”

With these election results, and on the basis of an enthusiastic campaign, the PTB commits itself, in the words of its president Peter Mertens, “to build, stone upon stone, a social future.”

#Belgium #BuildingSocialism #WorkersPartyOfBelgium #Europe