The Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB/PVDA) is calling for renewed mobilisation against the federal government's austerity policies, pension reform and increased military expenditure, announcing a series of actions and demonstrations scheduled for the second half of November.
PTB calls for mobilisation against austerity and pension reform, announces November actions
Under the slogan “Invest in Our Future, Not in War”, the party is linking opposition to cuts in education and public services with resistance to the government's plans for increased military spending. It argues that resources needed for social needs and the improvement of people's living conditions are being diverted towards rearmament.
The mobilisation calendar announced by the party includes several dates:
- 17 November: Action for accessible, affordable and quality education, opposing budget cuts and the deterioration of conditions facing students and young people.
- 20 November: European youth strike against militarisation.
- 22 November: Demonstration organised by the Stop Militarisation platform, as part of a European weekend of action.
- 23 November: National trade-union demonstration organised by the FGTB and CSC.
The PTB is calling on workers, students and young people to participate in these mobilisations. The party presents the actions as part of a broader struggle over social priorities, arguing that public money should be invested in education, healthcare, housing and public services rather than military expansion.
Collective legal action against pension reform
The defence of pension rights is another central element of the party's current campaign. On 6 November, the PTB reported that 30,000 people had joined its collective legal action challenging the government's pension reform, following the reopening of the MyPension online portal.
According to the party, many workers discovered that their earliest possible retirement dates had been postponed, in some cases by one to six years. The changes particularly affect people who began working at an early age and those employed in physically demanding occupations.
The PTB said that workers who had previously been informed that reducing their working hours would not affect their pension rights were now facing the prospect of having to work longer. It described the reform as unfair and announced that it was taking the matter before the Constitutional Court through a collective legal challenge.
The party is encouraging more people to join the action, turning individual grievances over pension calculations into a collective challenge to the government's reform.
The two campaigns are closely connected in the PTB's political argument: workers should not be expected to accept longer working lives, reduced social protection and cuts to public services while government resources are increasingly committed to military expenditure.
With the November actions approaching, the party is seeking to bring together trade-union resistance, youth mobilisation and the defence of social rights in opposition to the government's economic and military priorities.