News

Schools and cafes are closing, but in many companies people have to continue working close to one another. It can't go on like this. Health must take precedence over profit. In this video Peter Mertens, chairman of PTB-PVDA, proposes four urgent measures to protect our health and our income. Together we will beat corona. #careforeachother

The PTB-PVDA demands that Belgium move up a gear in the fight against coronavirus and has tabled a proposal in Parliament in order for the necessary funds to be made available in the framework of the budget discussions. “The measures currently on the agenda are far from sufficient to protect people”, says Sofie Merckx, general practitioner and member of parliament for the PTB-PVDA. “This view is also shared by international experts from the World Health Organization (WHO). We must act now, public health must take precedence over short-term economic interests.”

The PTB-PVDA calls for the immediate appointment of a national commissioner to accelerate the fight against the coronavirus in our country. According to the left party, such a commissioner is needed to break the institutional and economic straitjacket that currently prevents the necessary measures from being taken to curb the epidemic in depth.

On Sunday, March 8, throughout Belgium and around the world, thousands of women stood up to make their voices heard. From Charleroi, to Ostend, via Liège, Brussels, Ghent, Namur, Mons, Kortrijk and Leuven. Women everywhere stood up to say STOP to pay inequalities, STOP to violence against women and to the many forms of discrimination still all too present in our society. (Photo: 10,000 demonstrators in Brussels)

On Sunday 1 March, at the initiative of the PTB-PVDA, more than 10,000 people gathered in the streets of Brussels for the "Great Anger" , the march for a change in politics.

Given the public health emergency linked to the Coronavirus and Covid-19, the European meeting Fight 4 Pensions planned for Saturday 4th April in Brussels, has been postponed to Sunday 20th September, as part of the programme of the solidarity festival ManiFiesta. The same extraordinary panel of speakers is invited. We will keep you posted of further developments as soon as possible. Thank you for your understanding. For more information please follow: https://www.fight4pensions.eu

Head-on attacks on public pension schemes are a reality in many EU member states. In Spain, the pensioners' struggle began in 2011 and is still ongoing. Every Monday, Spanish pensioners take to the streets. They celebrate the "Mondays in the Sun" to demand fair pensions. (Photo: meeting at Baracaldo, Bilbao.)

Zelzate is a small municipality (12,700 inhabitants) in East Flanders. It is also the only municipality in Belgium governed by a left-wing majority, from the PTB-PVDA with the sp.a (social-democrats). This majority has opted for new investments, a fairer distribution of charges and more participation. A "fair tax shift" is at the centre of Plan for the Future: large companies and multinationals will contribute more, citizens and small enterprises less. (photo : "I support the fair Tax-shift in Zelzate")

Hundreds of Belgians (amongst them 150 members of the PTB-PVDA) went to Lille on Saturday 11 January for the demonstration against the pension reform project of Macron. The battle of the French workers is also the battle of all workers in Europe. Working longer for less money, we don’t want this at all.

One loaf of bread a month. This is what the employers are willing to "offer" to the 140,000 household helpers working in the service voucher sector. Yet another sign of contempt. The response is therefore action. On November 28th, 2019, the first action of a long struggle carried by household helpers was held in Brussels.