Belgium: massive resistance to new government austerity
AFTER 530 days of institutional crisis and intense
negotiations, Belgium finally has a government, with Elio Di Rupo (from
the Parti Socialiste, the francophone ‘social democracy’) as prime
minister. The deal came just a few hours after the rating agency
Standard & Poor’s downgraded Belgium’s credit from AA+ to AA, piling
pressure from the markets on the negotiators to sort out the political
crisis and engage in austerity policies without any further delay.
The true nature of this six-party coalition
government was made crystal clear from its inception. The politicians
reached a deal on an austerity budget for 2012, an avalanche of attacks
against workers and their families. After having injected billions of
euros into the banking system in recent years to save it from collapse,
the ruling politicians are now ready to make the 99% pay the bill – to
preserve the profits of the ultra-rich 1% who are responsible for the
mess.
The budget will take €11.3 billion from the pockets
of the most vulnerable: the sick, elderly and unemployed. This includes
€2.5 billion-worth of cuts in healthcare expenditure, new attacks on
unemployment benefits, and a plan to make public-sector workers work
longer and receive a lower pension when they retire. Pensions in Belgium
are already among the lowest in Europe, and there are over 600,000
unemployed in the country.
This is the biggest austerity plan in Belgium’s
history. Hundreds of thousands of workers, unemployed and pensioners
will be thrown into poverty. According to the bosses and their
politicians, there is ‘no other choice’. While almost everyone, even
right-wing economists, agree that austerity policies have recessionary
effects, the Belgian capitalist class is pushing ahead with the same
spiral that we have already seen elsewhere in Europe. The same
devastating effects will result.
Like former social-democratic prime ministers in
Spain, Portugal or Greece, Di Rupo appeals to the people for their
‘sense of responsibility’. The markets, he argues, do not leave him any
other choice. In the same vein, pensions minister, Vincent Van
Quickenborne, argues that the assault on the pension system is an
‘absolute necessity’ because it has been imposed by the European
Commission. This is what their democracy has been reduced to.
The measures are justified, supposedly, to ‘avoid
the worst’. But most workers understand very well that the worst is
still to come, and that this austerity plan is only the first in a long
series. According to the governor of the national bank, €1-2 billion of
additional cutbacks will be needed by March.
The liberal parties, pushed from behind by the FEB
(the main bosses’ federation), talk openly of imposing structural
changes to the index-mechanism, which adapts workers’ wages to the
rising cost of living. When it comes to the Flemish nationalist party,
the NVA, in opposition, it wants only to prove to the bosses that it
would implement austerity even more brutally than the present coalition.
Before even being installed, the Di Rupo government
received an initial and powerful illustration of workers’ discontent. On
2 December, 80,000 workers rallied in Brussels against austerity in one
of the largest union demonstrations in Belgium for years.
Five days later, 40,000 people, mainly trade
unionists, took to the streets in Liège to protest against the announced
closure of liquid-phase steel production at the site owned by
ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker. This raised the demand
for a regional general strike, and was part of internationally
coordinated strike action by metal workers. Stoppages, walkouts and
rallies took place at other ArcelorMittal plants in France, Luxembourg,
Italy, Germany, Spain, Romania and elsewhere.
Many workers from other sectors came out on the
streets in solidarity with the steelworkers. Most shops in the city
centre were closed on that day for the same reason, the biggest class
showdown in Liège for decades. Significantly, the issue of the
nationalisation of the plant and of the entire industry was prominent in
discussions, as well as on the banners of the union delegations.
Of course, the PSL-LSP (CWI Belgium) supports this
demand, but we argue for it to be under the democratic control and
management of the working class, and without compensation for the
owners. To put this into practice, and build a suitable relationship of
forces on the ground to impose such a solution, the occupation of the
factory would be an important step forward. This would be a striking
manifestation of the power of the organised working class, while
providing a space for collective discussion in democratic general
assemblies to decide the next steps to develop the movement.
Then, on 22 December, the potential to build a
sustained fight-back against the social massacre being prepared was seen
clearly. The Di Rupo government has already broken a record as the
Belgian government facing a public-sector general strike in the shortest
space of time. Three days before Christmas, public transport, schools,
hospitals, postal deliveries, governmental buildings, and other services
were paralysed by a solid 24-hour national strike against the pensions
plan. This success took place despite the evident lack of a serious
preparatory plan – the strike had been called just three days before.
Now, a general strike of the public and private
sectors is on the agenda for 30 January. But workers will need a serious
plan of action to defeat the austerity programme. Although 30 January is
a very important step forward, it should not remain a one-shot
operation. Nico Cué, from the metalworkers’ ‘socialist’ trade union of
Wallonia-Brussels, raised the possibility of an action plan with a
24-hour general strike in January, 48 hours in April, and 72 hours in
June.
This is a good proposal, encouraging the struggle to
escalate if the government does not step back. Nonetheless, the
timetable for such an escalation of generalised strike action, if good
in principle, might have to be reviewed. Above all, it needs to be
developed democratically by involving the base of the working class,
with a sustained campaign to mobilise and inform every factory and
workplace. This would make sure that the discontent present in society
could be transformed into a powerful force of resistance.
Rather than saving the banks at the expense of the
public, they and key sectors of the economy should be put in the hands
of the working class and of the broader community. In this way, the
resources and wealth we produce would be directed towards the real needs
of society. This is what we call a democratic socialist society: the
exact opposite of what the supposed ‘socialist’ parties (PS and its
Flemish counterpart, the SP.a) are now implementing. They are inflicting
brutal cuts on the shoulders of the poor, to save the profits of the
banks and the big companies.
The trade unions must break their links with these
parties. Anyone knows that an easy victory cannot be won by fighting
with one hand tied behind our backs. Union struggles and demands need to
have their own independent political expression. So, the unions should
break their links with their present political ‘partners’ and contribute
to the building of a genuine workers’ party.
Such a party must be open to anyone who wants to
fight against the austerity policies. In Flanders, Rood!, the movement
led by Erik de Bruyn (a former presidential candidate of the SP.a, who
has now left this party), is an attempt in this direction. In Brussels
and Wallonia, the potential for a left pole also exists, and similar
initiatives have been attempted, such as the Left Front.
Of course, as long as significant numbers of trade
union activists are not involved in this process, such initiatives will
remain limited. But, in a situation where the so-called ‘socialists’ are
at the head of implementing austerity programmes in the new coalition
government, and are leading a frontal offensive against the working
class, increasing numbers will look for a political alternative to the
establishment parties. That is why it is more urgent than ever to
address this issue in the workers’ struggles in the coming months.
