In Belgium, trade unions are uniting to defend the right to industrial action in the face of a proposed law that would restrict public protests. Civil society and NGOs have joined with the unions in raising the alarm about the impact of the measure.
On paper, the law targets ‘hooligans’ who infiltrate demonstrations. But its wide application threatens the freedom to protest and poses a clear challenge to the right to strike and demonstrate, says FGTB president Thierry Bodson. "The acts for which people could be condemned are not only serious ones," he argues. "The simple fact of lighting a wooden palette on a strike, tagging a facade or blocking a depot by preventing perishable foodstuffs from going out, could be punished by a three-year ban on protesting.” Progressive lawyers and human rights activists say the bill raises serious questions.
In the UK also, trade unions have been campaigning to stop a new law that would undermine the right to strike – forcing people to work, regardless of any democratic vote in favour of industrial action, or be sacked. The government has introduced its ‘sack key-workers bill’ despite strong popular support for action against poverty pay by health workers and others. The new measures are a direct attack on working people’s fundamental right to strike to defend their pay, terms and conditions.