Social Europe

politics, economy and employment & labour

  • Themes
    • Global cities
    • Strategic autonomy
    • War in Ukraine
    • European digital sphere
    • Recovery and resilience
  • Publications
    • Books
    • Dossiers
    • Occasional Papers
    • Research Essays
    • Brexit Paper Series
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Newsletter
  • Membership

Why we are on Brussels’ streets

Marie-Hélène Ska, Miranda Ulens and Olivier Valentin 20th June 2022

With profit margins at an all-time high, tens of thousands of Belgian workers are today demanding better wages and purchasing power.

wages,indexation,prices,inflation,purchasing power,Belgium
As elsewhere, energy prices are driving inflation and the loss of workers’ purchasing power in Belgium (Lisa-S/shutterstock.com)

‘Belgian companies achieved the highest profit margins ever’ ran the headline in the spring after the publication of these figures by the Belgian National Bank: ‘The Belgian profit margin experienced a notable increase over the past seven years, from 39.3 per cent in 2014 to 42.4 per cent in 2020. This is the highest level since at least 1999, when the margin was 35.7 per cent. Moreover, the rate is significantly higher than in neighbouring countries, where profit margins have remained relatively stable since 2014.’ Last year topped everything, with a margin of 46.8 per cent.

In the meantime workers across Europe and all over the world are confronted with huge price increases, especially for energy. Calculations for Belgium indicate annual inflation of 49.7 per cent for electricity, 33.5 per cent for diesel and 139.5 per cent for natural gas.

Indexation mechanism

A very important automatic indexation mechanism for wages helps workers in Belgium not to lose purchasing power, by catching up on inflation. Unions can then negotiate real wage increases through collective bargaining.

But there is a problem—the Wage Standard Law of 1996, which purported to promote employment and safeguard competitiveness. In 2017, that legislation was made much more restrictive by the then government led by Charles Michel. Since then, every two years—without any consultation with the social partners—a maximum margin for negotiations has been unilaterally set, based not on price movements but on the evolution of hourly wage costs in Belgium compared with those in Germany, France and the Netherlands.

For 2021-22, that ceiling was barely 0.4 per cent above indexation. This means that new agreements (collective or individual) may not lead to an increase in the wage cost per hour of more than 0.4 per cent. Sectoral collective agreements that go further may not be declared universally binding. Employers implementing higher wage increases (above indexation) may be sanctioned.

This is fundamentally unjust. Inequalities are dramatically rising. Housing, heating, food, fuel … prices are soaring everywhere, making life more and more expensive. The Federation of Belgian Food Banks issued a stern warning: ‘In 2021, 177,238 people stood in line for a food package. Never before have there been so many. Moreover, the food banks fear that this figure will only continue to rise, in part because of rising energy prices.’


Become a Social Europe Member


Support independent publishing and progressive ideas by becoming a Social Europe member for less than 5 Euro per month. Your support makes all the difference!


Click here to become a member

Petitioning parliament

All this led the three Belgian trade union confederations, ACV-CSC, ABVV-FGTB and ACLVB-CGSLB, to engage in countless awareness-raising actions from the beginning of the year. These included the launch of a petition under the new system of online petitions organised by the Belgian parliament. More than 87,000 citizens signed the petition—an unprecedented success in such a short time.

But for the time being, the new government led by Alexander De Croo, straddling left and right, has not wanted to touch the law. Only one additional exception has been provided for—a possible one-off premium of €500 in the form of consumption vouchers (the so-called coronavirus premium). The Flemish employer organisation VOKA has even proposed a ‘€500 employer present’ in exchange for a non-indexation of 3 per cent—over a career of 20 years in Belgium this would mean a salary loss of €27,000 for a fulltime worker on a median wage.

This has forced the three trade unions to resort to other means. We have filed a complaint with the International Labour Organization for violation of the freedom of collective bargaining (ILO convention 98).

And today we take to the streets—not only to demand fairer wages and a better distribution of wealth. It’s time to act, for decent work and livelihoods for all!

Marie Hélène Ska
Marie-Hélène Ska

Marie Hélène Ska is general secretary of the Belgian trade union confederation ACV-CSC.

Miranda Ulens
Miranda Ulens

Miranda Ulens is general secretary of the Belgian trade union confederation ABVV-FGTB.

Olivier Valentin
Olivier Valentin

Olivier Valentin is national secretary of the Belgian trade union confederation ACLVB-CGSLB.

You are here: Home / Economy / Why we are on Brussels’ streets

Most Popular Posts

new world order,state,citizen A new world order: from warring states to citizensPaul Mason
Tesla,IF Metall,electric car,union US electric-car maker faces Swedish union shockGerman Bender
Israel,Hamas Israel and Hamas: the debasement of discourseRobert Misik
Israel-Palestine,refugee,refugees Israel-Palestine: a comparative perspectiveBo Rothstein
Germany,sick,economic Germany’s true economic diseasePeter Bofinger

Most Recent Posts

human security,Europe,investment,military Investing in human security in EuropeChiara Bonaiuti
citizenship education,European Union,democratic European citizenship education—antidote to hateRéka Heszterényi
healthcare,hospitals,social dialogue,pandemic Healthcare depends on the health of social dialogueJorge Cabrita and Victoria Cojocariu
multi-level,Europe,networks,sovereignty Barking up the wrong European treeJan Zielonka
renewable,fossil-fuel,energy,renewables,inflation,prices The renewable answer to Europe’s fossil-fuel inflationFelix Heilmann and Maximilian Krahé

Other Social Europe Publications

Global cities cover pdf Global cities
strategic autonomy Strategic autonomy
Bildschirmfoto 2023 05 08 um 21.36.25 scaled 1 RE No. 13: Failed Market Approaches to Long-Term Care
front cover Towards a social-democratic century?
Cover e1655225066994 National recovery and resilience plans

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

WSI European Collective Bargaining Report 2022 / 2023

With real wages falling by 4 per cent in 2022, workers in the European Union suffered an unprecedented loss in purchasing power. The reason for this was the rapid increase in consumer prices, behind which nominal wage growth fell significantly. Meanwhile, inflation is no longer driven by energy import prices, but by domestic factors. The increased profit margins of companies are a major reason for persistent inflation. In this difficult environment, trade unions are faced with the challenge of securing real wages—and companies have the responsibility of making their contribution to returning to the path of political stability by reducing excess profits.


DOWNLOAD HERE

ETUI advertisement

Response measures to the energy crisis: a missed opportunity to feed the socio-ecological contract

With winter coming and Europe ready to get through it without energy shortages, power cuts and recession, new research conducted by the ETUI in seven EU member states (AT-FR-DE-GR-IT-PL-ES) highlights that, with some 80 per cent of spending being directed to broad-based measures, short-term national government support during the recent energy crisis was poorly targeted. As a result, both social- and climate-policy goals were rather sidelined, with the biggest beneficiaries of public fossil-fuel subsidies being higher income groups and the wealthiest people.


AVAILABLE HERE

Eurofound advertisement

How will Europe’s green transition impact employment?

Climate-change objectives and decarbonisation measures are vital for the future of Europe. But how will these objectives affect employment and the labour market?

In the latest episode of the Eurofound Talks podcast series, Mary McCaughey speaks with the Eurofound senior research manager John Hurley about new research which shows a marginal increase in net employment from EU decarbonisation measures—but also potentially broad shifts in the labour market which could have a profound impact in several areas.


LISTEN HERE

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

Transforming capitalism in the Age of AI

Will the EU once again accept Big Tech's power as a fait accompli while belatedly trying to mitigate risks, or can it chart a different course?

Join our conference on the EU approach to the digital transition. On Wednesday, 6 December, FEPS and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Competence Centre on the Future of Work are co-organising an evening of high-level debates on the digital future of Europe. There will be keynotes by the European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit; Evgeny Morozov, founder of The Syllabus; and Phoebe V Moore, globally recognised expert on digitalisation and the workplace. The event will be moderated by John Thornhill, innovation editor at the Financial Times.


MORE HERE

Friedrich Ebert Stiftung advertisement

It‘s all about jobs: investing in Europe’s workers and qualifications for a competitive clean economy

An ecological miracle on the labour market? Or rather job losses? The impact on employment and job profiles in Europe of ecological modernisation is a question driving politics and society.

We have taken a close look at studies and forecasts on the development of the European labour market. One thing is clear: without qualified and motivated workers, the economy will not flourish and the modernisation process will come to a standstill. Europe must deliver on a massive scale in the coming years to remain at the forefront.

We spoke to trade unionists and experts: what trends do we need to shape, what risks do we need to avoid, what course do we need to set now? Key findings in this study from FES Just Climate.


DOWNLOAD HERE

About Social Europe

Our Mission

Article Submission

Membership

Advertisements

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe Archives

Search Social Europe

Themes Archive

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

Follow us

RSS Feed

Follow us on LinkedIn

Follow us on YouTube

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641