Young unemployed comrades, sign our petition
The style of this poster – text, color, and image – misleads us. It suggests a socialist origin, but nothing could be further from the truth. The poster was published in 1935 by the KAJ, the Catholic Workers' Youth, the youth organization of the ACW, the General Christian Workers' Union, now beweging.net.
In the first half of the 1930s, Belgium was suffering under a severe economic crisis and the miserable living conditions it caused. Thousands of people lost their jobs and could barely rely on unemployment benefits. The crisis particularly affected younger workers.
The KAJ sounded the alarm from the very beginning of the crisis. For them, youth unemployment was a fundamental violation of human dignity. The obligation to 'do nothing' prevented the unemployed from fulfilling their human calling, perfecting themselves, and contributing to God's plan of creation. Unemployment set in motion a process of degeneration and took away not only their livelihood but also ideals, the will to work, and self-respect.
The youth movement did not sit idly by. It organized all kinds of recreational activities to keep its unemployed members off the streets. It transformed its vocational guidance centers into placement services and established collective workshops that offered vocational training. The camps for young unemployed people were intended to restore them physically and mentally, after which they could pursue general and professional personal development. All these initiatives met with limited success and placed a heavy financial burden on the organization. Government support was necessary.
Therefore, from 1933 onwards, the KAJ began to focus more systematically on the problem of unemployment and aligned itself with the demands of the Christian trade union, albeit with its own emphasis, such as the extension of compulsory education. In 1934, it launched a major press campaign with its own militant newspaper, The Young UnemployedThanks to the high circulation – up to 560.000 copies – the KAJ had a voice in shaping public opinion on the unemployment issue.
In 1935, her lobbying took on an international dimension. In June, an International Labour Conference took place in Geneva, which was to develop policy guidelines for youth unemployment. To this end, the labor movements conducted a global petition among young unemployed people. Within the Christian labor movement, the KAJ proved to be the most suitable organization to collect signatures. By then, that movement had also established itself internationally.
In February 1935, the Kajotters of Belgium and other European countries organized a worldwide 'fortnightly campaign for young unemployed people' to endorse basic demands, including the extension of compulsory education and a reduction in working hours. The branches received application forms, name lists, and the poster calling on people to sign the petition for 'work, bread, and the preservation of their human dignity'.
About 25.000 young Belgian unemployed people endorsed the demands. Worldwide, the KAJ collected 85.000 signatures. On June 1, the international labor movements marched to Geneva. They held mass marches there, and their representatives participated in the sessions, including fifteen Belgian KAJ members. They succeeded in having part of their demands included in the conference resolutions.
Meanwhile, things had also changed in Belgium itself with the three-party Van Zeeland government, which was able to curb the economic crisis and alleviate the social malaise, partly through government support, including for initiatives of the KAJ.
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KADOC is the Documentation and Research Centre for Religion, Culture and Society.
