FGTB metalworkers in Hainaut and Namur escalate threat after Arizona programme-law vote

federal government coalition whose programme law prompted the union response

De arizonacoalitie is een coalitie in de Belgische politiek. Deze coalitie bestaat uit liberalen, socialisten, christendemocraten en de Vlaams-nationalistische N-VA. De coalitie is vernoemd naar de vlag van de Amerikaanse staat Arizona en is een toespeling op de kleuren van de politieke families in deze coalitie: blauw voor de liberalen, rood voor de socialisten, oranje voor de christendemocraten en geel voor de Vlaams-nationalisten.

Prime Minister leading the federal reform agenda opposed by unions

Bart Albert Liliane De Wever is a Belgian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Belgium since February 2025. From 2004 to 2025, De Wever had been the leader of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), a political party advocating Flemish independence. From January 2013 to February 2025, he was Mayor of Antwerp, following the 2012 municipal elections.

province where the metalworkers’ structure is directly involved and industrial disruption could have impact

Hainaut, historically also known as Heynault in English, is the westernmost province of Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium.

province where the metalworkers’ structure is directly involved and industrial disruption could have impact

Namur is a town and municipality in the Outaouais region of Quebec, Canada, part of the Papineau Regional County Municipality. It is nicknamed "la Nouvelle Belgique".

source documenting national union opposition and reporting on protests

The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are distributed to its members, major U.S. daily newspapers and radio and television broadcasters. Since the Pulitzer Prize was established in 1917, the AP has earned 60 of them, including 36 for photography.

city where close to 100,000 people protested in February 2025

The City of Brussels is the largest municipality and historical centre of the Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the capital of the French Community of Belgium, the Flemish Region, and Belgium. The City of Brussels is also the administrative centre of the European Union, as it hosts a number of principal EU institutions in its European Quarter.

government whose social-spending and pension plans were contested by protesters

The De Wever government is the incumbent federal government of Belgium after the 2024 Belgian federal election. On 31 January 2025, a final agreement was reached between N-VA, CD&V, Vooruit, MR and Les Engagés to form a so-called "Arizona coalition", named after the colours of the Arizona state flag. The new government is led by Bart de Wever, who is the first Flemish nationalist Prime Minister of Belgium.