Maria Vindevoghel (born 11 October 1957) is a Belgian shop steward and politician affiliated with the

Workers' Party of Belgium The Workers' Party of Belgium (PTB-PVDA) is a Marxist and socialist political party in Belgium. It is the only Belgian party represented in parliament that is a fully national party, representing both Flanders and Wallonia. Having historically be ...

Biography

Maria Vindevoghel was born in Waregem, Belgium, and grew up in a primarily farming family in

West Flanders West Flanders is the westernmost province of the Flemish Region, in Belgium. It is the only coastal Belgian province, facing the North Sea to the northwest. It has land borders with the Dutch province of Zeeland to the northeast, the Flemis ...

. At 20, she moved to Brussels at

Molenbeek-Saint-Jean (French language, French, ) or (Dutch language, Dutch, ), often simply called Molenbeek, is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the western p ...

. 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 A labor court (or labour court or industrial tribunal) is a governmental judiciary body which rules on labor or employment-related matters and disputes. In a number of countries, labor cases are often taken to separate national labor high courts. O ...

by the ex-Sabenians because the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

Verhofstadt I would not have respected the social plan. The

Belgian Government The Federal Government of Belgium ( ; ; ) exercises executive power in the Kingdom of Belgium. It consists of ministers and secretaries of state ("junior", or deputy-ministers who do not sit in the Council of Ministers) drawn from the polit ...

argued that the

Federal Government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

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 In the airline industry, a baggage handler is a person who loads and unloads baggage (suitcases or luggage), and other cargo (airfreight, mail, counter-to-counter packages) for transport via aircraft. With most airlines, the formal job title is ...

''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 electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of votes that a candidate or political party requires before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can operate in various ...

. 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 (French language, French, ; former History of Dutch orthography, Dutch spelling) or (modern Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Reg ...

in 2003, MARIA initially received 4096 additional votes because of a voting computer error caused by

cosmic radiation Cosmic rays or astroparticles are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Sol ...

. In the federal elections of May 2019, she was again a candidate as

Lijsttrekker In politics, a lead candidate (; , ) is the candidate placed first on a party list. In parliamentary systems, it is often the party's nominee for the position of head of government, and the party chair or party leader. Usage by country Net ...

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 Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

and

anti-racism Anti-racism encompasses a range of ideas and political actions which are meant to counter racial prejudice, systemic racism, and the oppression of specific racial groups. Anti-racism is usually structured around conscious efforts and deliberate ...

Federal deputy

In the federal parliamentary elections 2019, she was elected as a

member of parliament in the Chambre des représentants. She deals with issues related to mobility, public enterprises and federal institutions within the PTB group.

Parliamentary activities

On 20 June 2019, when taking the oath in the Chamber of Representatives, she mixed

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

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. On 19 March 2020, Vindevoghel, together with the

New Flemish Alliance The New Flemish Alliance ( ; N-VA) is a Flemish Movement, Flemish nationalist, Conservatism, conservative Political parties in Belgium, political party in Belgium. The party was established in 2001 by the right-leaning faction of the centrist-na ...

and

Vlaams Belang Vlaams Belang (; ; VB) is a Flemish nationalist, Eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the Flemish Region and Brussels Capital Region of Belgium. It is widely considered by the media and political analysts to be on the polit ...

groups in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

voted against the

confidence Confidence is the feeling of belief or trust that a person or thing is reliable. * * * Self-confidence is trust in oneself. Self-confidence involves a positive belief that one can generally accomplish what one wishes to do in the future. Sel ...

to the

Wilmès II Government The Wilmès II Government was a minority Federal Government of Belgium, led by Prime Minister of Belgium, Prime Minister Sophie Wilmès, the first female Prime Minister of Belgium. Wilmès had been selected as a caretaker prime minister follow ...

. During the 2024 European Parliament elections, Vindevoghel served as a

Lijstduwer (; 'list pusher') is a Dutch term for the last candidate on a party list. In Suriname, the Netherlands and Belgium, this position is often taken by well-known non-politicians such as artists, celebrities and sportspeople. They are official c ...

in the Dutch ballots, and was not elected.

Bibliography

* ''Ik beschuldig... in naam van de Sabeniens'';Maria Vindevoghel - Ik beschuldig... in naam van de Sabeniens
literatuurplein.nl 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 ''Humo'' (stylized in all caps) is a popular Dutch-language Belgian weekly radio and television magazine. History and profile ''Humoradio'' (meaning a portmanteau of 'humor' and 'radio' in English) was first published in 1936 as a Dutch-langua ...

''; 3 June 2019

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vindevoghel, Maria 1957 births 21st-century Belgian women politicians Flemish politicians Living people Members of the 55th Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Women members of the Chamber of Representatives (Belgium) Workers' Party of Belgium politicians