Maria Vindevoghel (born October 11, 1957) is a Belgian shop steward and politician affiliated with the Workers' Party of Belgium.
Maria Vindevoghel | |
|---|---|
 Maria Vindevoghel (2nd from the right) with fellow worker-politicians Robin Tonniau, Gaby Colebunders, Nadia Moscufo, and American labor union leader Chris Smalls at ManiFiesta 2023. | |
| Belgian Chamber of Representatives | |
| Assumed office 20 June 2019 | |
| Parliamentary group | 55th |
| Constituency | Brussels |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 11 October 1957 Waregem, Belgium |
| Political party | Workers' Party of Belgium |
Biography
editMaria Vindevoghel was born in Waregem, Belgium, and grew up in a primarily farming family in West Flanders. At 20, she moved to Brussels at Molenbeek-Saint-Jean.[1]
Vindevoghel became an aircraft cleaner at Sabena. After the bankruptcy of the airline in 2001, she gained some notoriety as a spokeswoman for Sabena employees. Proceedings were brought before the Labour Court by the ex-Sabenians because the government Verhofstadt I would not have respected the social plan. The Belgian Government argued that the Federal Government had indeed made a mistake, but also put the 31 former employees of the bankrupt airline in the wrong.
She then became a cleaner at baggage handler FlightCare. In the summer of 2005, she was fired there, according to the management of FlightCare because of repeated violations of safety regulations. However, she managed to successfully challenge her dismissal at the labor court, with the judge stating that there was discrimination. From 2007 to 2017, Vindevoghel worked at the trade union ACV, where she focused on women's work and the aviation sector. She took early retirement in 2017. She also engaged with civil movement Heart over Hard.
In the federal elections, she appeared in the electoral district of Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde with her own electoral list 'Movement for Action, Resistance and an Independent Alternative' (MARIA), which however did not reach the electoral threshold. The list received 4,298 preferred votes (0.51%) for the Chamber of Representatives in the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde constituency and 2142 (0.67%) in the Leuven constituency. In Schaerbeek in 2003, MARIA initially received 4096 additional votes because of a voting computer error caused by cosmic radiation.[2][3] In the federal elections of May 2019, she was again a candidate as Lijsttrekker of the PVDA-PTB list in the constituency of Brussels-Capital. She became elected to the House of Representatives.
She claimed a commitment to feminism and anti-racism.[when?]
Federal deputy
editIn the federal parliamentary elections 2019, she was elected as a Workers' Party of Belgium member of parliament in the Chambre des représentants.[4] She deals with issues related to mobility, public enterprises and federal institutions within the PTB group.[5]
Parliamentary activities
editOn 20 June 2019, when taking the oath in the Chamber of Representatives, she mixed Dutch and French ("Ik zweer de observer de grondwet) so as not to choose one of the language groups. However, she was forced to take the oath again and did so in Dutch, joining the Dutch language group.[6][7]
On 19 March 2020, Vindevoghel, together with the Workers' Party of Belgium, New Flemish Alliance and Vlaams Belang groups in the House of Representatives voted against the confidence to the Wilmès II Government.[8][9]
During the 2024 European Parliament elections, Vindevoghel served as a Lijstduwer in the Dutch ballots, and was not elected.
Bibliography
edit- Ik beschuldig... in naam van de Sabeniens;[10] EPO; 2003; ISBN 9064452938
- Fiche Maria Vindevoghel PVDA
- Pardoen Tom; "PVDA-verkozenen Nadia Moscufo en Maria Vindevoghel van de werkvloer naar het Parlement: 'Er heerst echt woede op straat, van wie weinig heeft tegen wie veel heeft'"; HUMO; 3 June 2019
References
edit- ^ "PVDA wil Maria, een Nederlandstalige arbeidster uit Brussel, in het federaal parlement". www.pvda.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 31 October 2024.
- ^ Miller, John (26 July 2004). "In Most of Europe, Electronic Voting Loses Out to Paper Ballots". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 4 September 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2021 – via Dow Jones Newswires.
- ^ "The Universe is Hostile to Computers". Veritasium. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Maria Vindevoghel, Brussels worker, elected to the Chamber". Solidaire. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
- ^ "The Belgian House of Representatives". www.lachambre.be. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
- ^ "All 150 MPs took the oath: these were the most notable moments". VRT NWS. 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
- ^ "Chambre: Patrick Dewael évite le perchoir pour esquiver le Belang, aucun incident au final". RTBF Info (in French). 20 June 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
- ^ "Le Parlement accorde sa confiance au gouvernement Wilmès II". RTBF Info (in French). 19 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
- ^ "Le gouvernement Wilmès II obtient la confiance de la Chambre: 9 partis pour, 3 contre". Le Soir (in French). 19 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
- ^ Maria Vindevoghel - Ik beschuldig... in naam van de Sabeniens[dead link]; literatuurplein.nl