School students walking out against climate change, 24.1.19, photo by CWI (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)
School student strikes hit a record high. 35,000 marched through Brussels on Thursday 24 January, triple the size of the week before. On Sunday 27 January, more than 70,000 marched on a national climate change demo in Brussels.
The Flemish environment minister said she “feels encouraged to continue her policies” and “there are now affordable electric cars on the market, they cost only €37,000 (£32,000).” One of the 18-year-old organisers of the school student strikes wondered if the minister even had the slightest idea of what normal people earn.
In our material we respond to the anti-capitalist sentiment among the protesters by explaining we need a planned economy, meeting the needs of the working class and the planet. The movement is still at its beginning. By arming it with collective demands that can involve working-class organisations, it can grow even larger and more powerful.
Michael Bouchez, CWI Belgium
- See more on the climate change protests at socialistworld.net
