Articles

The chairman of the FEB (Federation of Enterprises in Belgium) has been dreaming of a Social Pact for a long time. A dream from before the Covid-19 crisis. He's not the only one. For Georges-Louis Bouchez, the chairman of the MR (Mouvement réformateur, French-speaking liberal party), "it is time to conclude a new social contract". At the trade union level too, some are calling for a Social Pact. This caused a strong controversy at the top of the FGTB (socialist trade union federation). But what would this Pact be made of?

More and more voices are calling for the removal of the statues of Leopold II from the public space. Why? What did he do in the Congo? And what is the link between colonization and racism today? Explanations.

Who has to pay for this crisis? The heroes of everyday life, the healthcare workers, the workers in the distribution, at the post office... or the richest? In our country, the PTB-PVDA started the debate with the proposal of a "corona tax", but the issue is of global importance. French economists feel that a wealth tax is justified in times of crisis. It has already been applied.

Thousands of scientists worldwide are searching for medicines and vaccines against Covid-19. Big Pharma is also pulling out all the stops in order to make the most of the pandemic that is now dominating our lives. However, it is the responsibility of the large pharmaceutical companies that this treatment is not yet available today.

Almost exactly one year after the elections, a new poll was conducted in Flanders (the northern part of Belgium. The PTB-PVDA continues to grow: from 2.8 % in 2014 to 5.6 % last year and 8.2 % according to the latest survey [conducted only in Flanders - note: in Brussels and Wallonia, in the various elections of 2019, the PTB-PVDA had obtained between 12.3 and 14.6%].

Over the last five years, the Lufthansa Group has made a profit of EUR 9 billion, the majority of which went into the pockets of shareholders such as German billionaire Heinz Hermann Thiele. But now that the airline is in trouble, it is asking for 290 million euros in public aid to save Brussels Airlines. The community is supposed to put its money where its mouth is and pack the shareholders' wallet. This is an outdated model for the PTB-PVDA, who advocates a publicly-owned airline.

In Belgium, since 11 May, contact tracing has been in place. Contacts of infected persons will have to remain in home quarantine for 14 days if they are called by a tracer. With the government's current proposal, many people will suffer a loss of salary of 30% during their quarantine. For many families, this is another potential financial loss after the one caused by the lockdown. Sofie Merckx, MP of the PTB-PVDA, proposes that the salary would be maintained in case of quarantine: "To fight the coronavirus, we need to do our utmost to ensure that as many people as possible can follow the advice of contact tracers. That means everyone should be able to keep his income."

Speech by Peter Mertens, chairman of the PTB-PVDA, at the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the victory over fascism, 8 May 2020, Breendonk

MUST SEE ? 1000 people singing Bella Ciao for our heroes ❤️

European leaders won’t consider debt cancellation or abandon the dogma of neoliberal austerity. Coronavirus shows that well-funded public services are essential for our survival — austerity is a matter of life and death. We need an alternative.

May First speech of Peter Mertens, chairman of the Workers' Party of Belgium (PTB-PVDA)

Prevention must be a crucial aspect of our healthcare response to the corona pandemic. Both to prevent the spread of the virus and to deal with the social consequences of the corona crisis. The fact that many countries fall short in this respect has a lot to do with the organisation of their health care. This brings the importance of strong public health care back to the fore.