Liège Teachers Rally Against FWB Education Budget Cuts
Approximately 250 teachers gathered Friday at noon on Place Saint-Lambert in Liège to protest against budget cut measures imposed by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (FWB) government, as RTBF reported. The demonstration marked the latest escalation in a months-long confrontation between the education sector and the MR-Les Engagés government over austerity measures that teachers say threaten the quality of schooling.
A Region United in Protest
The Liège rally was part of a broader mobilization across the province, with 23 schools participating in strike actions or other forms of protest that day, according to RTL Info. Teacher Johan Van De Plas told reporters the action aimed to demonstrate that educators remain committed to their cause and to invite colleagues across Wallonia to join the movement. “Anyone who wants to join the September 10 demonstration in Liège would be welcome,” he said.
Patrick Zeoli, a French teacher at Athénée Royal d’Ans, described the pattern of protest spreading through the region: “There are many schools, even if they don’t go on full strike, they do daily work stoppages or one day of strike per week.”
The Liège region is currently the only area in Wallonia conducting strike actions since the start of the school year, making it the epicenter of teacher resistance.
The Contested Measures
The protest targets a package of austerity measures contained in the décret-programme, voted by the FWB Parliament on the night of August 29. As we-news.com detailed, the contested measures include a 10 percent increase in teaching hours for secondary school teachers (from 20 to 22 periods per week) without salary compensation, tighter end-of-career provisions for statutory teachers, less generous sick leave, and increases in tuition fees (minerval) from 835 to 1,194 euros for 58 percent of students. Cuts to free school supplies and meal programs have also drawn fierce criticism.
Union representatives argue the measures disproportionately affect vulnerable families. Siham Cheurfi, a CGSP delegate, warned that the end of free school meals “will affect at least one in five children,” while Catherine Duvivier of the CSC called the savings measures “ideological,” saying they “aim to sanction a segment of the population that’s already struggling.”
Escalating Conflict
The current protests follow a year of escalating tensions. The FWB faces a structural budget deficit of 1.5 billion euros, with expenditures of 15 billion euros against revenues of 13.5 billion euros, as RTBF reported. The government aims to achieve 300 million euros in savings by 2029, with education being the largest expenditure sector at over 10 billion euros annually.
Grassroots collectives including Mars Attacks and Profs en colère have become key drivers of the movement. At a September 1 assembly attended by more than 70 teachers, members announced coordinated strike pickets for the Liège region, as RTL Info reported. Maud De Ridder, a French teacher and Mars Attacks member, declared: “We’re back for a second battle because the war isn’t over, we’ll hold on until 2030.”
Martin Delplace, another member of the collective, described the personal toll: “I lost a third of my full-time position with a third of my salary. Today I have a lot of uncertainty.”
Parents Caught in the Middle
The strikes have created anxiety among parents uncertain about their children’s schooling. One mother told RTL Info: “We drop our children off at school at 8am with full confidence. They’re supposed to stay until 4pm. And I’m not at all reassured not knowing what their day will be made of.”
School administrators are attempting to manage the disruption. Céline Burtin, director of Athénée Royal d’Ans, said union negotiations are ongoing and expressed hope for agreements “to ease the situation and be able to welcome all our students normally starting next week.”
What’s Next
The common union front (front commun syndical) has called for a major demonstration on September 10 in Liège, urging teachers across French-speaking Belgium to participate. As La Libre reported, the action follows the last major front commun demonstration held on April 9 in Brussels, which gathered between 10,000 and 15,000 people.
The September 10 demonstration is widely seen as a critical test of whether the movement will spread beyond Liège. Sébastien Demarche of Mars Attacks also referenced September 27, the FWB’s symbolic anniversary date, questioning whether the federation should be celebrated “after everything it’s done to the education world.”
With strike pickets, work stoppages, and general assemblies planned across Liège schools in the coming week, as RTL Info reported, the conflict shows no signs of abating. The outcome of next week’s demonstration may well determine whether Belgium’s French-speaking education system faces a prolonged year of disruption or whether the government and unions can find common ground.