89 years ago Albert Pot and Theo Grijp, two union militants in Antwerp, were spreading out flyers for the elections when they heard about fascist activists targetting the dockworkers union building. They decided to check out what the problem was and managed to locate four fascists elsewhere in the city. One of them took out a gun and shot down Albert Pot. Theo Grijp chased off the shooter, only to be shot himself. They both died.
The murders resulted in a general strike in which half a million people in Belgium eventually halted their work. The enormous scale of the protest lead to the introduction of the 40 hour work week in Belgium together with 6 paid holidays a year, health insurance, child support money and a wage increase of 7%. This strike is considered the beginning of the social security system we have today in Belgium.
Rest in power, comrades.
