Belgian strike highlights tense mood

The general strike called in Belgium on October 28^th by the socialist unions could have acted as an extension on a higher level of the so-called "white" movement against the corruption in the justice system. It only partially succeeded in that aim. Although large industries in the southern, French, part of the country and in Brussels were paralysed along with public transport, the northern Flemish part of Belgium was only affected to a small degree. It was a movement which developed at different speeds. This represented quite a contrast to the spontaneous growth of the movement against the sacking of the judge who was in charge of the investigation of the Dutroux/child murders case. That movement affected all parts of the country and indeed had an even stronger momentum in the north than in south.

Does this mean that there was no relation between the general strike of the 28^th and the earlier movements? To believe that would be a mistake. The earlier movements were against the infamous court decision to sack the judge, demanding social and economic justice. Students marched on the demos demanding action against "a system that is rotten to the core". So why did the workers react so differently to the general strike? There are three reasons for this:

The very short time between the calling of the strike and the actual strike itself (only three and a half days).This, together with the bureaucratic approach adopted to the mobilisation rather than a serious democratic campaign, explains the result. The way the action was called infuriated a lot of activists who were fed up with this sort of method of organising by decree.
The lack of unity between the Catholic and Socialist trade unions. The leaders of the socialist unions called the strike unilaterally, making no attempt to involve the catholic unions, which are in a majority in the north of Belgium (Flanders), while the socialist unions have the majority in the French-speaking south. We have seen this problem before but it was clear that no attempt was going to be made to overcome this and achieve any sort of unity at all. Without a unity strategy, the right wing of the catholic unions were able to keep the left under control in the majority unions. Where socialist union activists were confronted with strong divisions in a factory they opted not to force things but instead concentrate on informative picket lines. The potential for unified action was revealed by the example of the participation in the south of the catholic union metal workers of Liege together with those who worked in shops, banks, insurance etc. At the socialist strikers meeting in Brussels, the national president of the socialist union was booed whereas the leader of the catholic union workers got a standing ovation, when he made a speech in favour of unity. In Ghent, a large industrial city in the north, catholic union shop stewards refused to distribute the leaflet produced by their own union attacking the general strike. These examples show that, with proper leadership, united action would have easily been possible.
The lack of clear demands or indeed of any demands at all. Different unions ended up taking action for different reasons. First it was said that the strike would be on the questions of a reduction in the working week and in support of negotiations with the bosses for a renewal of the 2-yearly contracts. Then other unions said they would be striking against the budget proposals presented a month earlier. The remarks of a union leader, trying to explain the patchy response in his region, goes to the core of the problem: "Like many other citizens, the workers have been more preoccupied with the problems of society than the negotiations with the bosses." This comment reveals a fundamental truth: workers are less willing to respond to calls around "direct demands" which fail to give any serious answers to the problems of society, unemployment in particular. More general demands are needed to galvanise the workers into struggle. A programme for social change around the demand for a 32 hour week would have got a tremendous response but only on condition that it was proceeded by a serious campaign of explanation and debate amongst the workers.

The call for a general strike exposed a profound split at the top of the socialist unions. The national leaders hoped that by calling for action they would reduce the antagonisms inside the unions. It had the opposite effect. The left and also the right have been forced to go onto the offensive after the strike. A clear left/right polarisation is developing inside the organisations. The right wing are even threatening (and expecting) a split along Flemish/Walloon lines. At other levels, union bureaucrats are busy attacking each other which reflects a feeling of nervousness and a lack of confidence in the direction of the unions. At times it all resembles a scene from the "OK Corral" with everybody blasting away at each other.

The impasse in the negotiations with the bosses on the new wage norms (wages and labour cost charges are limited by law to the average level of increases in the Netherlands, Germany and France) has sharpened differences at the top of the unions. The wage norm level has left a margin of between 0% and 0.7% to be shared out between wage increases and job creation. But a share of nothing is nothing! The prospect exists that the socialist unions will choose not to sign the deal, not because it rejects the settlement but rather because it would prefer the deal to be imposed on them in order to avoid widening internal conflicts.

The bosses in the metal sector in particular are keen to cut labour costs by between 10% and 15%. Last week the bosses of the largest metal factory in the south, Caterpillar, decided unilaterally to sack 227 workers and impose new wages and conditions for young workers in the future. This would represent a wage cut of 12%-a kind of "internal outsourcing." In response to this provocation, the workers decided to occupy the factory and many union branches are organising solidarity. For example, workers in one neighbouring steel factory organised an immediate strike and demonstration involving 1000 workers. Tension is present everywhere in society. It has receded a little in the aftermath of the "white" movement and the not-so general strike. But it is not back to normal.

There is a mood of expectation on the issues of both the justice system scandal and also of the wage/job negotiations. It could flare up at any time. Every day new scandals are coming to light. There even exists a witchhunting mood amongst the upper echelons of the judiciary and politics. That is why the government is so fearful of provoking any new discontent. Some of the parents of the murdered children have been calling for the resignation of the minister for the interior and a new march-a red one, red for danger. The general political and social mood of the workers can be best summed up by this symbol.

Erik Demeester (Brussels)

From Socialist Appeal 47, Dec 1996