Articles

The PTB welcomes the agreement obtained on 19 November in the parliamentary working group, setting up a “healthcare workers fund” to respond to the demands from the healthcare sector. (video)

Bert De Belder of the Workers’ Party of Belgium reflects on the transitions that enabled his organization to emerge as a powerful force throughout the country at a time of increasing fracturing of the polity. Interview Bert De Belder part 1.

Public transport on strike, actions in the cultural sector and at the VRT (the Flemish public broadcaster)... The austerity policy of the Flemish government led by Jan Jambon (of the right nationalist New Flemish Alliance party N-VA) and his attempt to harness the arts and culture are not accepted. And resistance is growing.

On Sunday 10 November, a future reception centre for asylum seekers in Bilzen, Flanders, was destroyed in an arson attack. The fire did not occur out of the blue. It is the consequence of a far-right strategy aimed at sowing hatred and division. Here is the reaction in Parliament of PTB-PVDA deputy Gaby Colebunders, former Ford worker in Genk (Limburg province) and son of an immigrant coal miner.

The agitation by healthcare workers comes at a time when the left-wing Workers’ Party of Belgium has been pushing for a large influx of government funds into the sector.

After having worked their entire careers, pensioners are entitled to a decent pension. It is a matter of justice, respect and fair distribution. While politicians are drawing EUR 4,250 pensions, Belgian pensions are among the lowest in Western Europe. With average pensions ranging from EUR 1,244 for men to EUR 989 for women, retired workers cannot even afford a retirement home, let alone enjoy their retirement.

Hundreds of restructuring and layoffs in Match, Smatch and Carrefour stores, a major spontaneous strike at Lidl last year: a real storm hit the distribution sector.

The current decline of the world economy is no secret to anyone. The economic conditions are clearly moving in that direction, to the point that a new crash is feared to occur. Even if it does not go that far, the future is anything but rosy. Red lights are blinking all over.

The tenth edition of ManiFiesta took place on 21 and 22 September. ManiFiesta is a festival organized by Solidair, magazine of the PTB-PVDA and Medicine for the People.

Speech by Peter Mertens, Chariman of the PTB-PVDA, at ManiFiesta, 22 September 2019

Contribution to the PCP Conference, Palmela, 13 September 2019 by Jos D'Haese, head of the PTB-PVDA group in the Flemish Parliament.

Now that Thomas Cook Belgium has also been declared financially incapacitated, Maria Vindevoghel, member of parliament for PTB-PVDA, warns against the possibility of a snowball effect in the sector. For the former Sabena trade unionist, dismissals must be avoided at all costs. “Shareholders and employers have benefited for years from profits and bonuses. Workers, on the other hand, are left in the most complete uncertainty today.”