After massive mobilisation of more than 100,000 people on 13 February, the resistance against Belgium’s “Arizona” coalition federal government continues. This Monday, 31 March, thousands of workers responded to the joint union front call by FGTB/CSC (the CGSLB chose not to support this action) for a 24-hour nationwide cross-sector strike against the social devastation announced by the ruling coalition. Throughout the country, picket lines and blockades slowed down numerous sectors of the economy. Faced with a resolutely antisocial government, the resistance must intensify and organise!

Nationwide Strike, Picket Lines and Blockades: The Country Slows Down

On 31 March, the strike severely slowed the country. Public transport was largely disrupted, most planes remained grounded (only 130 flights were maintained at Brussels Zaventem airport), numerous schools and shops remained closed, and more than 700 picket lines emerged across several sectors, both public and private, in all three regions of the country. The various sections of the Anticapitalist left were mobilised at their workplaces or in support of various picket lines and blockades.

In Brussels, more than 60 picket lines were recorded. Several picket line tours were organised and/or supported by Commune Colère; notably the “grévibus” (strike bus), organised with the Brussels 8 March Collective, targeting picket lines in feminised sectors in particular, which managed to gather more than 200 people along its route, with a full bus and a procession following the same itinerary by bicycle. Among the notable picket lines in Brussels were Saint-Pierre and Erasme hospitals, Audi-Forest, the CGRA (Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons), the Home Care Services Centre, several schools and CPAS (Public Social Action Centres) or several shops, particularly within the City 2 shopping centre and in the Rue Neuve. Many service voucher sector workers also met at Place de Brouckère. A delegation of Brussels firefighters was received on Monday by Georges-Louis Bouchez at the MR headquarters.

The Solbosch campus of the Free University of Brussels was blocked by students and workers; a lively picket line held throughout the day. An associative village of student circles taking part in the strike was present on campus, including the Young Anticapitalists. The Royal Academy of Fine Arts was also at a standstill, and the picket line was reinforced by art students from several institutions.

The cultural and non-profit sector responded massively, with threats against the artist status uttered by Georges-Louis Bouchez himself a few days earlier having had an electrifying effect in the sector. Theatre and cultural centre workers and technicians in particular formed a gathering of several thousand people in Place de la Monnaie in an atmosphere that was both festive and determined. From there, a spontaneous procession of a few hundred people joined Rue Neuve, one of the capital’s main commercial arteries, where strikers and Commune Colère activists blocked several streets giving access to the shopping street as well as the entrances to the City 2 shopping centre and several stores for 2 hours. The action concluded with a small procession ending in the centre of Rue Neuve where a General Assembly was held where workers from various sectors were able to speak, share their demands and announce the next days of mobilisation.

In Wallonia too, the strike was in full swing. In Mons, Les Grands Prés, the largest shopping centre in Wallonia, was closed and blockaded, as were several industrial zones in the region (notably Frameries, Cuesmes, Saint-Ghislain). There was strong mobilisation in the Liège region where several industrial zones were also blocked, and where no buses were running and most schools were at a standstill. Several picket lines were reinforced thanks to solidarity between workers, particularly in shopping centres, prisons, waste collection companies, municipal administrations and the CPAS. In Louvain-la-Neuve, the university mobilised; the UCL picket line included about a hundred people, a large proportion of whom were students, concluding with a demonstration on campus. Afterwards, a general assembly organised by the CNE brought together a few dozen workers. Everywhere, the major industrial companies were definitely at a standstill: Sonaca and Industeel in Charleroi; Aperam, Clarebout and Lutosa in Hainaut; Total-energy in Feluy; Safran and FedEx in Liège, as well as the regional airports of Liège and Charleroi.

In Flanders, the action had notable repercussions in the transport sector: the CGSP Cheminots and CSC/ACV-Transcom unions participated in the strike, leading to significant disruptions on the railway network. Trains ran on a reduced schedule, with frequent cancellations and delays. The strike was well supported at De Lijn bus company. In the public and essential services sectors, participation in the strike varied (actions in front of hospitals, nursing homes, schools, associations, there were picket lines at the main Dutch-speaking universities KU Leuven, VUB and UHasselt). The strike in the maritime traffic control tower in Zeebrugge (West Flanders) forced authorities to close the Scheldt (36 ships had to wait at sea), and a filter blockade was in place in the port of Ghent. In Antwerp, cleaning services were at a standstill and the prison saw a significant picket line formed by the guards. Some services operated with reduced staff, whilst others were completely paralysed; employers had to manage the absence of striking workers.

In the private sector, participation in the strike was diverse. Some companies (Daikin in Ostend, Volvo and ArcelorMittal in Ghent, DAF, CNH, petrochemicals, the port in Antwerp, AviaPartner in Zaventem, Campina in Aalter, AB InBev in Leuven, Carrefour, Aldi, Lidl, Brico, IKEA, Colruyt shops) experienced a decrease in productivity due to the absence of striking workers, whilst others maintained their normal activities.

The Next Appointments for Social Protest

Whilst the trade union organisations claim the success of the 31 March mobilisation, we must remain cautious: if the multiplication of picket lines is undeniably good news, it must be acknowledged that the mobilisation on these remained numerically weak, many with fewer than ten people. Very few information and mobilisation general assemblies were previously organised in companies, public services and associations. If the country was running in slow motion, it was far from being at a standstill. To build a real balance of power with the zealots in the federal government, we will need to further broaden the bases of mobilisation (many people we met were not aware of either the government’s antisocial measures or the strike), and direct it towards a common and clear direction.

The coming weeks will fortunately be rich in mobilisation. From 7 April, a rotating strike begins in education, joining those already underway in the railway sector, every Tuesday of the month. 24 April will mark a day of strike in CPAS as well as a mobilisation of unemployed people. On 29 April, a new day of cross-sector mobilisation with decentralised actions is announced, as a prelude to a 1 May that promises to be combative, and as on 22 May, it is the non-profit sector that will once again be on strike. Everywhere, anger is organising: in schools, hospitals, stations, public services... all these struggles, for the moment dispersed, are all opportunities to broaden the movement, and to intensify and centralise its strength, towards the fall of the “Arizona” government!

Laure Horlait