BELGIAN GOVERNMENT BOWS TO THE DOCTORS
BY Fernand Charlier
BRUSSELS, April 20 -- “After seventeen days, the refusal of the ma jority of Belgium's doctors to handle cases came to an end. The "strike" order of the medical associations was lifted after they had received a guarantee from the Social~Democratic and Christian-Social government that discussions would be opened “on fundamentals"; that is, on the content of the government medical insurance law sponsored by Minister Leburton,
Thus the government came out the loser in this "battle." It offered.a helping hand to the medical associations just when ‘tholr "strike" was beginning to disintegrate! It is worth inquiring why | these concessions were made, The principal reason is that the government is pulled in opposite directions by antagonistic forces,
The corporatist "trade-union chambers" ["chambres syndicales"], -as the medical associations call themselves in Belgium, represent the very epitome of reactionary “liberalism,” Above and beyond their “defense of the liberal professions," is to be seen the hand of the extreme right-wing movements, organizing among the “middle classes" on a fascist-like basis,
The government is based on an alliance between the Christian
Social [Catholic] party and the reformist Socialist party. Its platform, like that of similar governments in Europe is "neocapitalism,". the {renovation of the capitalist system, It hoped that the favor-~ able aspects of the medical insurance law -- despite its great weakness =~ would lead the working class to forget the harsh blows it has had to take, such as the law on maintenance of “order.”
Through the social aspects of the law, which granted free oare -- but not medicine, etc. -- to widows, invalids, pensioners, and orphans, it hoped to fight on two fronts:
(1) To _ keep the upper hand over the "Parti de la Liberté et du Progres" [the former Liberal party], which the doctors support;
(2) Yo present a favorable image to the workers, counteracting the effects of jumps in prices, and hiding its incapacity to finance public utilities, which has been reflected in a relative decline of the budget for public health in recent years, — Oe
This explains why the government -- despite the progress repre-~ sented by the Leburton law -- did not succeed in arousing great enthusiasm among the workers for the law itself. It also explains why it. was not able to convince the majority of “hesitaters" in the medical profession, It had to resort to coercion to mobilize the tstriking" doctors. ee
Big mass demonstrations took place against the reactionary maneuver of the doctors. The central slogan of these demonstrations was "For a National Health Service!" This demand was advanced by the socialist left wing and by the two Communist parties... It should be noted, too, that the demand was included in the program of the Social Democrats, But this official program was written before collabora~ tiqn with the government!
In the light of this, one can understand why trade-union boss Louis Major sought to bring the demonstrations to an end at the first signs of an agreement.
It is not likely that the government will give way on all the demands of the doctors -- long bargaining will take place again during the discussions "on fundamentals" which are scheduled to begin April 22, But the Fédération des Industries Belges [FIB, the most representative employers! organization] rushed to the assistanoe of the doctors and has just come out in favor of reconsidering free medical care. The argument advanced is the “danger of medical overconsumption," ,
This is a well-known phenomenon. It was seen in Great Britain on the introduction of the National Health Service. It involves an increase in care. But it must be added that after a certain time, the “consumption of care" becomes stabilized around a new level, The
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phenomen in fact shows quite simply that many needs formerly went . without being taken care of. a
The Sooial-Democratic Minister Leburton declared, when the "doctors! strike" came to an end, that he felt reasonable optimism." But in face of the difficulties of the hardly glorious bargaining now on the agenda, some of the Social Democrats are thinking in terms of a collapse of the present government, This would permit them -they hope ~- to regild their coat of arms in the electoral campaign that would then be opened,
"TROTSKYIST" PURGE IN BRITISH COMMUNIST PARTY
The- London Sunday Telegraph of April 19 reports that a "