“I had accepted, as I always do, to debate various reforms with socialist unionists before the start of our conference,” Bouchez wrote on his social media after the incident.
“When I arrived, one of their members threw me a glass of beer, insults, threats, obscene gestures. The police had to intervene,” he said.
He argued that although he could have asked for protection against the police, he decided to stay and faced the demonstrators to show that he was not intimidated.
According to the members of the FGTB union, however, Bouchez provoked the demonstrators who had come from the party congress to speak to him.
“The facts are clear: it was he who accused the demonstrators. As for the glass of beer, everyone regrets it, even their own security service noticed that he came from inside the play,” said FGTB regional secretary Jonathan Hubert, on social networks.
“We strongly denounce this staging and deplored the attitude of a party president who chooses provocation rather than dialogue. It is not our conception of democratic debate,” he added.
The Belgian government has long had a tumultuous relationship with the country’s unions, often falling to questions such as economic reforms, retirement policies and workers’ rights.
The tension has worsened following the election of the new central-law government of Belgium, of which MR is a part, with unions criticizing the reforms they consider to be harmful to workers.
Politices
