The Workers' Party of Belgium (French: Parti du travail de Belgique, pronounced [paʁti dy tʁavaj də bɛlʒik], PTB; Dutch: Partij van de Arbeid van België, pronounced [pɑrˈtɛi vɑn də ˈʔɑrbɛit vɑm ˈbɛlɣijə], PVDA; lit.

Having historically been a small party, the PTB-PVDA has gained momentum since the 2010s, continuously scoring better at the elections, particularly in Wallonia and working-class communities in Brussels.

[citation needed] Their support and participation in an important strike in the coalmines turned the movement into a political party.

[citation needed] In preparation for the Belgian elections of June 2007, the Solidarity newspaper and the website of the party were merged in order to reach a wider public.

[citation needed] On 2 March 2008, the work of the Eighth Congress of the PVDA-PTB was completed with a closing meeting at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

[citation needed] This 'shift' seems to have produced some positive results, such as an increase in membership and a rebound of the electoral score of the PVDA-PTB in recent elections.

COMAC, its youth movement, is active in all the universities in Belgium and in secondary schools (in Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels).

The party advocates for strengthening workers' rights, increasing pensions, and decreasing the retirement age to 65, and supports expanding social programs and the welfare state.

[citation needed] Elected representatives and full-time staff observe a pay cap indexed to the wages of a "skilled worker", and the excess is donated to the party.

[33] According to political scientist Steven Van Hecke, in terms of foreign policy, parties such as the PVDA have both a pacifist and a socioeconomic agenda.

For its socioeconomic aganda the PVDA often looks back nostalgically to Soviet communism, where the emphasis was on respect for the working class and rejection of market capitalism.

The highest scores were gained in the cantons of Herstal (9.8%), Assenede (7.5%) and Seraing (7.3%); all places where the PVDA-PTB traditionally is strong.

The poll indicated that the Workers' Party would win 26 seats in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives if the next federal election were held immediately, putting it in tied first place with the Flemish N-VA.[41] The party generally increased its vote share in the 2018 local elections, and won over 15% of the vote in several French-speaking cities.

[45] The PTB was also the fourth largest party in the European election the same day in the Francophone areas, winning 14.59% and giving it one seat.