An exhibition on social partners during the war years

An exhibition on social partners during the war years opened on Wednesday, 4 February 2026 in the entrance hall of the Federal Public Service Employment, Labour, and Social Dialogue (FOD WASO/SPF Emploi). The exhibition is an initiative of the National Labour Council (NAR/CNT). CegeSoma played an important role in its realization. Materials from various repositories of the Belgian State Archives were used for the exhibition.

Over 80 years after the end of World War II, this exhibition commemorates how social partners fared during the war years and their essential contribution to the development of social security and social dialogue in post-war Belgium. The exhibition is structured around four themes: war and occupation; the Social Pact; the development of social security; and the development of socio-economic consultation after the liberation.

This exhibition was designed by Dirk Luyten (CegeSoma), Peter Heyrman (Kadoc-KU Leuven), and Luc Peiren (AMSAB-ISG), who also collected the exhibition materials—photos, posters, texts. All this was done in close collaboration with the social partners represented in the National Labour Council.

Some material comes from the library, archive, and photo collection of CegeSoma, from the archives of the War Victims Service, and from the Cuvelier repository. The contribution of the Cuvelier repository was essential in enabling us to focus on the role of the central employers' organization, the predecessor of the current Federation of Belgian Enterprises (VBO/FEB), using the archives of the Central Industry Committee/Federation of Belgian Industries.

The FOD WASO/SPF Emploi was responsible for the visual presentation and material realization of the exhibition, which is open from 5 February 2026 to 31 January 2027, Monday to Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. in the entrance hall of the FOD WASO/SPF Emploi building, Ernest Blerot Street 1, 1070 Brussels, not far from CegeSoma. Admission is free.