Groenten uit Balen

Plot

Groenten uit Balen is based upon real events which took place in the Belgian community Balen. In 1971 it turned out the workmen of Vieille Montagne in the other Belgian plants had a much higher salary for similar work. The workers in Balen wanted a raise. This led to a dispute between the workmen, the trade unions and the directors board. The 1500 workmen in Balen went on a strike, but this was not accepted by the trade unions. As a result, the workmen did not earn any money at all. The strike went on for 9 weeks. Many charity was set up by inhabitants of Mol and Balen. Jef Sleeckx, a politician, convinced the banks to cancel payments temporarily for affected workmen. Houselords did not ask rent during the strike. Shops gave food for free or gave the impacted workmen a temporary job. At the end, the directors board agreed and the workmen even got a higher wage than requested.

The novel is about the fictive family Debruyker. Father Jan is unskilled and works at Vieille Montagne. He frequently writes letters to king Baudouin of Belgium. His wife Clara does the householding and always intercepts the letters and burns them. Their daughter Germaine is 18-year-old and just finished high school. Grandfather is retired and lives in. The family lives in a working-class neighborhood not that far from Vieille Montagne.

Germaine hopes for a better life. Her father does not earn that much and they live in a small, rather poor environment. The houses have no luxury and the toilets are still outside, which obliges the families to use outdated chamber pots during night or freeze periods. Furthermore, Germaine is convinced all earth in a rather large area is poisoned with lead and zinc. There is already proof as there are almost no trees and plants.

Life becomes complicated when a strike starts at Vieille Montagne. Grandfather is from another generation where workmen had almost no rights. According him, Jan should be happy he has a job and he should follow the decisions of the directors board even if he has a lower wage in comparison with the other factories. He forces his son to go to work and forbids him to go on strike. Jan wants to follow the advice of his father, but once at the factory it seems those who wants to work are being thrown in the canal or beaten up by the other workmen. This results in a strike of all 1500 employees. Jan writes a letter to the king and requests him to do something about the situation. Of course, the letter is again burnt by Clara.

In meantime, Germaine works at the GB-warehouse in Mol as a cashier but gets fired after she stole glue. This means the family has no income at all. Thanks to the actions of politician Jef Sleeckx, their situation becomes somehow better. Germaine meets Luc, a student at the university, during a party. They fall in love. Not much later, Germaine gets ill and must vomit frequently. After a visit to the doctor, it seems she is pregnant. As this is a scandal and abortion is a taboo, Germaine should marry Luc. However, Luc does not want to raise the child and focusses on his studies. That's why Clara decides to visit his parents who live in a mansion. Although Clara is a rather assertive person, she is bribed with expensive chocolates and drinks. Luc gets aware of Germain's situation and changes his mind. He does want to raise the child whilst combining his studies with some job. There is also good news from Vieille Montagne: the directors board decided to raise wages.

Jan once again writes a letter to the king to thank him. Jan is convinced his previous letter was partially the key to the solution.

Title

The title is based upon a writing error in Jan his last letter to the king. He ends this letter with a salutation. He wants to write "Groeten uit Balen", which means "Greetings from Balen", but scribes "Groenten uit Balen", which means "Vegetables from Balen".

Film adaptation

The play was adapted to film in 2011, directed by Frank Van Mechelen.