On Thursday, November 7, more than 25,000 people protested in Brussels during the demonstration to defend what we call in Belgium the non-profit sectors (care, social assistance, childcare and disability sectors, and the socio-cultural sector). What do they have in common? The worsening of working conditions for years and structural underfinancing which risks getting worse in view of the announcements of the possible government coalition “Arizona”, which would bring together several Flemish and French-speaking right-wing parties.
Weeks earlier, the Belgian federal elections of June 2024confirmed a European trend with the big winners being liberal and conservative right-wing parties, such as the Mouvement Réformateur and the Engagés, in Wallonia, or the NVA, in Flanders. No surprise that a government coalition is heading towards ever greater attacks on workers, women et immigrant people. Thus, among the attacks that are being prepared, we note the end of the indexation of wages to inflation, the blocking of wage increases, the increase in working hours, the generalization of Sunday work and public holidays .
A new stage in the breakdown of public service
At the Brussels demonstration, several strikers recognized that a major attack was being prepared. As Karim, delegate of the public services union (CGSP – Brussels public hospitals) of the Belgian General Labor Federation, a federation on the left of the political spectrum, points out: “ The Arizona Government’s plan is to attack all workers, starting with the unemployed, passing through employees and ending with retirees. “. And its sector, health, is on the front line. The figures are not final but we are talking about a budget reduction of hundreds of thousands of euros. These cuts add to degraded working conditions since Covid-19, which produces a lack of attractiveness in the sector.
There is no shortage of graduates, and yet Belgium finds itself with on average one caregiver for every twelve or even fourteen patients, where the scientific consensus agrees that one caregiver is needed for every eight patients to ensure quality care and avoid an increase in the mortality rate. The demands of the CGSP-FGTB go beyond refinancing, which is necessary. They are fighting for the collective reduction of working hours, without loss of salary and compensatory hiring, the increase in salaries of all functions which have not seen a euro increase after the Covid-19 crisis – and there has a lot of them.
The situation in hospitals affects all workers. A caregiver from Liège, who has worked in the sector for more than ten years, says it herself: she attends a “ total burnout, of the entire team, all professions combined – floor technician, physiotherapist, ergo, nurse, caregiver: when we talk to each other we are all at the end of our tether. » She also highlights the difficulty of taking sick leave, with mutual insurance monitoring each sick leave and putting constant pressure to return to work. And it doesn’t take years of experience to make this observation. Camille, 23, started her work as a midwife about a month ago and is already on the street. She compares care homes to “ factories that destroy more than they elevate “. She had, however, done internships during her training, but nothing had prepared her for the harshness of the terrain where she does not see herself for more than ten years, because the working conditions are so difficult and unsustainable in the long term.
This structural lack of resources directly affects workers but also patients. A psychologist in a mental health service observes on the front line that services are saturated and that they are no longer able to meet the needs of the population. For her, “ the destruction of public service began a long time ago but a new stage is being reached ».
Beyond health, it is also the socio-cultural sector that is threatened. Among them, the collective Alfawhich provides popular education to combat illiteracy, was present. For its general coordinator, Eduardo Carnevale, this event is “ a primer, a warm-up for the conflicts that are coming “. For his collective, the difficulty of obtaining subsidies worsens the working conditions of trainers but also weakens the situation of learners who are a popular public with many immigrants, undocumented immigrants and the unemployed. Clearly, for him, the situation is representative of the entire associative sector: “ if we lack resources we have to reduce our missions, we have more and more isolated, precarious people, and there is an increase in inequalities with all its consequences ».
These words echo those of Nathalie Debusschere, coordinator of the professional dance federation: “ We really want to align ourselves with the struggles of other social sectors which are threatened with being precarious for the next five years “. Indeed, the future Arizona government threatens to abolish the status of artist (equivalent to the status of intermittent entertainment in France) which would lead artists to be considered unemployed between each contract, but this status is essential for the freedom of creation. For her, it is fundamental to be present for her sector but also in “ support from other sectors: we want to fight together for the social sector, the medical sector which are all in the sights of neo-liberal policies ».
“A first step in a broader movement”
Will the Arizona government’s cuts and reforms be the straw that will cause the unhappiness not only of workers but of all of Belgian society to overflow? For many, it is clear that this demonstration will not be enough, that it is only the beginning of a long power struggle which will take hold over the next five years. So what are the prospects?
Clément, from the FGTB youth union (student) is fully aware of the difficulties and the need to do better, to do things differently: “ Many people also expect this strike to be a sort of first step in a much broader social movement. We have seen the first proposals from the Federal Government (…). As young people in the union, we will support workers everywhere. (…) The non-profit sector is one of the government’s first targets but many people are waiting, particularly from union leaders, for a concrete proposal for an action plan to go further. (…) Doing a demonstration is a waste of time. If we say to ourselves that we are having an isolated strike like that, it makes no sense and it is not an action plan ».
Health is the subject of numerous struggles not only in Belgium, but also in France, where workers at Beaujon hospital have been on strike since October 12. Like them, the health sector, and more broadly the Belgian non-profit sector, must seize the momentum of the demonstration of November 7, to build a balance of power in the face of the attacks that the government is preparing. The aim is to give perspective to the anger that has been accumulating for years and which cannot be expressed in isolated and symbolic manifestations. To do this, we must organize assemblies in workplaces, build coordination – by involving users – of the different establishments in the struggle in order to unite and push the union leadership to a real overall plan of struggle.
