Solidarity Letter from the Workers’ Group of the EESC with strikes in Belgium

Dear Comrades,

We wish to express our unwavering solidarity with your planned three days of strike action on 24, 25, and 26 November, announced by CSC, FGTB, and CGSLB.

Your mobilization comes in response to troubling government proposals. As you have pointed out, the freeze on indexation, further cuts to pensions, VAT increases, and other measures would dismantle key social protections, disproportionately affecting workers and families, particularly women. Such policies strike at the heart of social justice and weaken the social contract.

We fully support your demands for greater tax fairness – including a wealth tax, a tax on the digital activities of tech giants, and a serious review of business subsidies – as well as your call for social security contributions on all salaries, irrespective of how remuneration is paid. These are not only just and progressive demands, but also vital to ensuring the long-term sustainability of social protection in Belgium.

Your three-day strike is not only a protest but a clear message: there is still time to reverse course, to adopt convincing alternatives, and to restore a strong social contract rooted in solidarity, economic justice, and democratic participation.

Your struggle is not just a national matter: it resonates across Europe, where social inequality, attacks on public services, and labor precarity are growing. The future of the European social model depends on the ability of workers and their organisations to mobilise, to resist, and to propose constructive alternatives.

Please accept, dear comrades, our fraternal solidarity, our admiration for your courage, and our commitment to working together for a Europe that truly defends the rights of workers, the dignity of all, and the principles of social justice.

In solidarity,

Lucie Studničná

EESC Workers’ Group President