Belgian political life is complex from both a French and Belgian perspective, as evidenced by the four Walloon colleagues we invited to a debate in Lille on March 21st regarding the ongoing social movement - which you will read about in the following pages of this report. Indeed, there are no fewer than six levels of government: five regional governments and a federal state, spread across three administrative tiers: federal, regional, and linguistic. For the labor movement, union life appears simpler, structured around three major unions: the FGTB, the CSC, and the CGSLB. However, the reality is more complex, with linguistic divisions between Walloons and Flemings, as well as numerous divisions by sector. Finally, it should be noted that unions in Belgium are co-managers of the state, as they are, for example, responsible for unemployment benefits. Let's try to shed some light on this!
A brief history of the birth of the Belgian state
The Belgian state was born in 1830, emancipating itself from the Netherlands. Until then, only the United Kingdom of the Netherlands existed, created after the Napoleonic Wars and the Congress of Vienna (1815). The struggle for independence was fueled by religious antagonisms (Catholics in Belgium and Protestants in the Netherlands), but also by economic ones, where each side felt disadvantaged by the other, particularly in the development of ports. All of this unfolded against the backdrop of the Industrial Revolution, which arrived very quickly in Wallonia, following on from the United Kingdom. The 1830 revolution-even though it had a popular, class-based foundation, in line with other revolutions of 1830 (France, Poland)-was quickly hijacked by the Catholic, liberal, industrial, and rentier bourgeoisie, who seized power and suppressed the revolutionary momentum in Brussels. To remain compliant with the Congress of Vienna, which absolutely rejected a republican regime, an agreement was reached between the great powers to place the German prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha on the throne, making him Leopold I. A new dynasty was thus established! Economically, private property and the exploitation of labor were guaranteed by law to make land and its inhabitants available for the new accumulation brought about by the Industrial Revolution.
Belgium is a constitutional monarchy: executive power belongs to the king - who in reality has little power because, as the saying goes, he reigns but does not govern - and to the government; legislative power is shared between the Senate (60 members, 50 of whom are appointed by the communities and regions) and the Chamber of Representatives (150 members elected by proportional representation). The Belgian state retains its prerogatives in sovereign functions such as foreign affairs, the military, and the judiciary, but the major political development is the federalization of the state, which began in the 1960s and 1970s.
Belgian-style federalism
It's a long process that will extend until 2013, with a total of six constitutional revisions to establish that the federal state is not a supervisory body, unlike in many other federations. Some even speak of Belgian confederalism, given the significant decision-making power of local authorities. Historically, federalism arose from two regional rivalries: on the Flemish side, an initial desire for cultural autonomy in the face of a "Frenchified" capital, Brussels; on the Walloon side, a desire for economic autonomy at the time, hoping to revive the already declining heavy industry. Today, we see a reversal of values, with Flanders, very prosperous economically and the majority in terms of population, while Wallonia feels it is in decline and wants to defend its distinctiveness. Ultimately, federalism appears as a political form adapted to managing the uneven development of capitalism between the two regions. It allows different factions of the bourgeoisie to have specific regulatory spaces while fragmenting the working class by diminishing class struggle through linguistic or cultural divisions. This is a real obstacle for the workers' movement, as we will see below.
Belgian federalism has resulted in no fewer than six administrative divisions. There are three regions: Wallonia, which occupies 60% of the territory and is divided into five provinces: Walloon Brabant, Hainaut, Liège, Luxembourg, and Namur; Brussels-Capital, which corresponds to the Brussels metropolitan area and is a predominantly French-speaking enclave within Flanders; and Flanders, also with five provinces: Antwerp, Flemish Brabant, West Flanders, East Flanders, and Limburg. Each region has its own parliament and government and is responsible for all matters related to land-use planning: transportation, economic development, and so on. In addition to the regions, there are the three linguistic communities, which also have their own executive and legislative bodies and are responsible for culture, education (schools, libraries, theaters, audiovisual media, etc.), and social welfare. There are the communities: Flemish with 6.5 million Dutch speakers, French with 4.5 million French speakers, and German-speaking with 71,000 speakers. Apart from the Flemish community and region, which form a single government, Belgians have three decision-makers for their daily lives!
Governance and political life
Belgium regularly experiences political crises at both the federal and regional levels. While we won't go into detail here, proportional representation and the pillarization of society-a system in which social organization is essentially structured around community pillars where each group has its own schools, unions, etc.-exacerbate governmental instability and/or the necessary compromises and coalitions. It's worth noting that voting is compulsory in Belgium, under penalty of a fine. At the federal level, the record for a government vacuum was 541 days in 2010-2011, while at the regional level, it has just been broken by Brussels-Capital with 600 days of power vacuum, ultimately resulting in a coalition agreement that brings together seven parties, representing almost the entire Belgian political spectrum! This doesn't prevent the implementation of austerity policies that accompany the reconfiguration of capitalism in the country.
The three main political families are Catholic democracy, liberalism, and socialism. The first two shared power roughly from independence in 1830 until the 1930s. Then the socialists, under Paul-Henri Spaak, came to power and held it in coalition with the Christian democrats until the 2000s. Since the 2010s and the consequences of the 2008 economic crisis, there has been a significant political realignment with the rise of authoritarian liberalism, either center-right or left-wing depending on the degree to which it enforces the social reproduction system. Social democracy is represented by the PS/Vooruit (Flemish version), which has existed in its current form since 1978 and the split of the Belgian Socialist Party (PSB), itself the successor to the Belgian Workers' Party (POB - see below). We should also mention the Belgian Workers' Party (PTB), which, like La France Insoumise (LFI) in France, is gaining seats on a "popular" platform focused on purchasing power and pensions, while neglecting to address issues like employment, undocumented immigrants, or the unemployed, which are less appealing to the public. The PTB was founded in 1979 by former Maoists and originally defined itself as Marxist/anti-capitalist with a strong Leninist/Stalinist bent. Since its congress in 2008, the party has clearly embraced reformism. As for the Belgian Communist Party, it is moribund and has not participated in government since 1985.
Overview of the Belgian labour movement
The Belgian working class emerged at the beginning of the 19th century with early industrialization, particularly in Wallonia, in the "black triangle" (coal and pig iron production) formed by the cities of La Louvière, Liège, and Charleroi. In Flanders, while predominantly agricultural, mechanization in the textile industry around Ghent and Verviers is noteworthy. Capitalist development was extremely rapid and harsh: the country quickly acquired an optimal transport network with railways and canals, coupled with ports that facilitated flourishing import/export trade. The conditions of exploitation were reminiscent of the German novel Germinal. This was compounded by the violent colonization of the Congo, which was plundered to feed the capitalist behemoth. It is worth noting that it was the colonization of the Congo that enabled the bourgeoisie, along with the working-class aristocracy, to construct the Belgian social model, which was based on the extreme brutality of colonial imperialism. This economic development was accompanied by liberal policies that, somewhat ambivalently, allowed Belgium to become a refuge for exiled European revolutionaries. It's worth remembering that Marx and Engels wrote the Communist Manifesto there in 1848, and Proudhon and the Communards also sought refuge in Belgium.
Fueled by emerging workers' struggles, the labor movement gradually became more structured. Cooperatives, mutual aid societies, and other forms of mutual support were established. These organizations joined the International Workingmen's Association (IWA, First International) in 1865, and very quickly, two opposing tendencies emerged: the anarcho-syndicalist/revolutionary communist current and a more democratic socialist current. From the 1880s onward, the social-democratic tendency prevailed. The Belgian Workers' Party (POB) was founded in 1885, heavily influenced by the Gotha Program, which placed political struggle and the demand for universal suffrage at the heart of its objectives, and workers' associations at the center of the means to achieve them. Thus, three major general strikes in 1893, 1902, and 1913 led to male suffrage in 1919 and then universal suffrage in 1948. Despite internal and external dissension within the Belgian Workers' Party (POB) stemming from anarchists, communists, and Trotskyists, the party's base was firmly rooted in the trade unions and mutual aid societies. Only the Communist Party, regionally (in the Walloon industrial basins) and sporadically (during the social and political struggles of the 1930s and after the Resistance), was able, on occasion, to challenge the supremacy of this social-democratic movement over the urban artisan class and the working class of large-scale industry. The POB met a disastrous end, as it was tempted to collaborate with the Nazis during the Occupation and ultimately dissolved. From its ashes would emerge the Socialist Party and its allies. On the trade union front, the 1930s saw the rise of the CGTB (General Confederation of Belgian Labour), which would become the FGTB after the war. In 1939, the federation boasted over half a million members.
The socialist hegemony was challenged by Christian democracy. In 1946, the Christian Workers' Movement (MOC) brought together the various Christian workers' organizations. Among them was the General Confederation of Christian and Free Trade Unions of Belgium, which would later become the CSC - Confederation of Christian Trade Unions. Initially, the Christian tendency was a minority and more prevalent in Flanders, but after the Second World War, this reversed. The CSC became the majority union in 1955 among blue-collar workers and in 1967 in the civil service. Flanders remained a stronghold of the union, with 70% of its members, with the exception of Antwerp and Ghent. This shift coincided with the post-war Flemish economic boom: Flanders' GDP surpassed that of Wallonia in 1957.
Union co-management
Like the countries of Northern Europe, the Belgian social model is based on a powerful trade union movement that strongly controls workers and negotiates with employers regarding the management and acceptance of exploitation. The learning curve for co-management on both sides took place in the 1920s and 1930s when employers were forced to negotiate with a powerful labor movement. As early as 1921, joint industry commissions were created and tasked with managing the implementation of the eight-hour workday as well as the particularly numerous social conflicts of the time. This was followed by the first collective bargaining agreements and the linking of wages to the price index, and soon after, the first compulsory insurance schemes. Gradually, an integrated social security system emerged, managed by the unions and funded by employers and the state. The interconnectedness and power dynamics of this three-way relationship grew increasingly complex and shaped Belgian social life. Co-determination allows for a stabilization of the reproduction of labor power and limits open conflicts that could threaten the model. Thus, the three major unions are veritable social institutions: the CSC, the FGTB, and the CGSLB (a liberal union) manage unemployment insurance, are closely linked to mutual benefit societies, and even pay for strike days. This power of the union bureaucracies is commensurate with the strength of the proletariat, which has seen attempts to overwhelm its rank and file, as during the "Strike of the Century" of 1960-1961 (see the rest of our report).
Margat
http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4707
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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