The PTB-PVDA requests that Belgium should close down companies in non-essential sectors. "Let's learn from what is happening in Italy and in the rest of the world," says PTB-PVDA Chairman Peter Mertens.

Schools and cafes are closing, but in many companies people have to continue working close to one another. It can't go on like this. Health must take precedence over profit. In this video Peter Mertens, chairman of PTB-PVDA, proposes four urgent measures to protect our health and our income. Together we will beat corona. #careforeachother

The PTB-PVDA demands that Belgium move up a gear in the fight against coronavirus and has tabled a proposal in Parliament in order for the necessary funds to be made available in the framework of the budget discussions. “The measures currently on the agenda are far from sufficient to protect people”, says Sofie Merckx, general practitioner and member of parliament for the PTB-PVDA. “This view is also shared by international experts from the World Health Organization (WHO). We must act now, public health must take precedence over short-term economic interests.”

The PTB-PVDA calls for the immediate appointment of a national commissioner to accelerate the fight against the coronavirus in our country. According to the left party, such a commissioner is needed to break the institutional and economic straitjacket that currently prevents the necessary measures from being taken to curb the epidemic in depth.

On Sunday, March 8, throughout Belgium and around the world, thousands of women stood up to make their voices heard. From Charleroi, to Ostend, via Liège, Brussels, Ghent, Namur, Mons, Kortrijk and Leuven. Women everywhere stood up to say STOP to pay inequalities, STOP to violence against women and to the many forms of discrimination still all too present in our society. (Photo: 10,000 demonstrators in Brussels)

On Sunday 1 March, at the initiative of the PTB-PVDA, more than 10,000 people gathered in the streets of Brussels for the "Great Anger" , the march for a change in politics.

Throughout the European Union, national governments are attacking the most solidarity-based pension systems. A coordinated attack from the European institutions. A quick look at Spain, France and Germany.

In April 2017, the Croatian government published a "pension reform programme" aimed at increasing the retirement age from 65 to 67 and tightening the conditions for early retirement. This programme has been approved by Parliament. Not by the workers, however, who have forced the government to back down. Background of a victory. (photo : Ivan Blazevic, responsible for the campaign in the city of Crikvenica. D.R.)

Hundreds of Belgians (amongst them 150 members of the PTB-PVDA) went to Lille on Saturday 11 January for the demonstration against the pension reform project of Macron. The battle of the French workers is also the battle of all workers in Europe. Working longer for less money, we don’t want this at all.

French workers are fighting against Macron's pension reform. In Belgium, we have pushed back the previous government of Charles Michel and its points-based pension. In Spain, it is the "pensionistas" who march every Monday demanding dignified pensions. In Croatia, the trade unions have obtained the return of the legal retirement age from 67 to 65... This struggle in defence of our pensions is sweeping through many European countries. Coincidence?