Exactly 105 years ago, the index was intended to bring more stability to the perpetual struggle between employers and employees. Belgium was experiencing significant price increases at the time, prompting workers and their unions to strike constantly for higher wages. To break this vicious cycle, the Socialist Minister of Labor, Joseph Wauters, introduced the retail price index By linking wages in collective bargaining agreements to this indicator of the cost of living, he, the employers, and the unions hoped to avoid wage action as much as possible. Incidentally, the index worked both ways. When prices fall, wages also fall. But the latter phenomenon rarely occurs after the interwar period. Therefore, since the 1970s in particular, the index has been frequently modified. In the 1980s and 2015, index jumps meant that wages were not adjusted to the cost of living, and with the 1994 "health index," gasoline, diesel, alcohol, and tobacco disappeared from the index basket. The index is discussed sooner or later with every government formation, with employers and right-wing parties believing it undermines the competitiveness of Belgian companies, while unions and left-wing parties want to protect employees' purchasing power at all costs.
