Correspondents' Correspondence Belgium on Strike
SALPETER, ELIAHU
Correspondents' Correspondence BRIEF TAKEOUTS OF MORE THAN PERSONAL INTEREST FROM LETTERS AND OTHER COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVED BY THE EDITORS Belgium on Strike Brussels—On Friday, February 25, life...
...Further, they argue that the unemployment measures are insufficient, since the continued loss of jobs in some enterprises will exceed the ones generated by the program...
...But to many financial analysts here this sounds like fighting fire with kerosene...
...Both, however, joined forces to implement the strike campaign, an act of profound political significance that is already having an important effect on the traditional division between this country's French-speaking Wallon and Dutch-speaking Flemish regions...
...Over the years, this situation has produced some interesting interplay...
...These can be summed up in two statistics: Inflation in Belgium continues at 8 per cent, and unemployment is approaching 10 per cent...
...To alleviate fiscal troubles, it calls for higher indirect taxes aimed at reducing the deficit...
...Public sector expenditures are to go up 38 per cent, and the private sector will receive $45 million...
...They therefore urge contracting the work week to 36 hours, a step that would distribute available work among more people...
...Wallonia, where once first-ranking Western European industries dependent upon deteriorating local coal mines have seriously declined, is now the economically backward area of Belgium, and as worker income has dropped union militancy has risen...
...Value-added tax increases—expected to net the treasury about $400 million a year—will raise the price of cigarettes, gasoline, cars, insurance, and alcoholic beverages...
...The nation's largest trade union, the Confederation Syndical Chretien (CSC) is closely linked to Premier Leo Tindemans' Social-Christian party, the foremost partner in the ruling coalition...
...Still, the social and political implications of the strike should not obscure its basically economic roots...
...Although the two trade union federations operate in both regions, the CSC is stronger in Flandria and the radical FGTB is dominant in Wallonia...
...Correspondents' Correspondence BRIEF TAKEOUTS OF MORE THAN PERSONAL INTEREST FROM LETTERS AND OTHER COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVED BY THE EDITORS Belgium on Strike Brussels—On Friday, February 25, life slowed down in Belgium...
...Such amenities as hotels, restaurants and entertainment will become more expensive, too...
...On the one hand, the Flemish part of the CSC has generally acted as a stabilizing conservative influence on Belgium's trade union scene...
...The average Belgian work week, they point out, is already the shortest in Europe...
...the port of Antwerp, third largest in the world, was closed...
...Flandria has experienced the reverse process, with the result that its factories are more modern, wages are higher, unemployment is lower, and strikes are rarer...
...The second largest, the Federation General du Travaile Beige (FGTB) is associated with the Socialist party, the major opposition group...
...As might be expected, though, the French section of the CSC in Wallonia is to the left of its Flemish majority, while the Dutch section of the FGTB is to the right of its mostly Wallonian membership...
...As demonstrated by the strike, the unions are unhappy with the scheme...
...By April it could lead to the government's downfall...
...municipal and district government offices throughout the land shut their doors...
...On the other hand, a steady stream of radicalism has flowed from the FGTB toward the CSC...
...They claim that higher taxes will hit low-income groups hardest...
...To lessen unemployment, Tindemans will use government funds to help create additional jobs...
...A series of one-day strikes, scheduled to continue for a month, had begun to protest Brussel's newly-unveiled economic policy...
...For 24 hours no train left its station...
...And the announcement of Tindemans' program, aimed at restraining inflation by cutting budget deficits as well as reducing unemployment by increased investments, produced a tail-wagging-the-dog effect: The FGTB in Wallonia carried along the French-speaking minority of the CSC and it, in turn, convinced the Flemish majority of the CSC to offer full support to the month-long strike action...
...Moreover, they contend, it has engendered the high production costs that account for many of the country's present economic woes.—Eliahu Salpeter...
...The middle-of-the-road government's new plan offers a rather conventional solution to the two-fold problem...
Vol. 60 • March 1977 • No. 7
