Belgian Unions Continue Three-Day Strike
Several unions have joined together in a three-day national strike in response to Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever’s attempts to change labor laws, unemployment benefits, and pensions. The strikes, which will increase in scope every day until 26 November, are resulting in widespread disruption to several public and private sectors, including aviation, education, healthcare, and public transportation.
On Monday, De Wever’s government reached a budget agreement supporting his attempts to bring down the country’s debt by €10 billion ($11.6 billion) by 2030. At the end of 2024, Belgium’s budget deficit was at 4.5 percent of its GDP, with the debt at 104.7 percent, according to the BBC. The European Union’s budget rules specify that member nations should keep their budget deficit below 3 percent and debt below 60 percent.
“The deal includes tax hikes on share purchases, airplane tickets, and natural gas, and a new tax on banks,” according to news outlet France 24. Recreational products, like hotel stays and take-out food orders, would also become more expensive.
However, the nation’s unions have clashed with the government over pensions, a fair wealth tax, a tax on digital activities for tech giants, and transparent screening of companies’ subsidies.
“Defending the [strike], general workers union FGTB said a demonstration in Brussels two weeks ago had been met with ‘total silence’ from the government,” BBC reported. While De Wever is trying to implement significant austere reforms on unemployment benefits and pensions, union organizers hope that the strike will pressure the parties negotiating the budget to stop targeting those two facets. The participating trade unions are ACV-CSC, FGTB-ABVV, and CGSLB-ACLVB.
Monday, 24 November
On Monday, public transportation workers, including for trains, went on strike. The national railroad company SNCB estimates running only one or two of every three trains, depending on the service lines. Alternative services depended on staff availability.
Meanwhile, high-speed train service provider Eurostar estimated that half of its trains running between were Brussels and Paris were cancelled, and about 80 percent of its trains between Brussels, Liège, and Germany are scheduled to run throughout the strike. Roughly 75 percent of its trains between Brussels and Amsterdam and Amsterdam and London would remain on schedule, while trains between Brussels, Lille, and London and between London and Paris should experience no disruptions.
The city of Brussels announced service disruptions for public transportation—including the metro, tram, and bus networks—were expected for all three days of the strike, according to The Brussels Times.
De Lijn, a Flemish transport operator handling bus services with routes in Brussels, also announced that some of its tram and bus services would be impacted until after the strike.
Other services participating in the strike starting on Monday included ferry and shipping traffic; rubbish bag, bulk waste, recycling, and household chemical waste collections; administrative services for municipalities; and police.
Tuesday, 25 November
Other public services, including childcare, schools, and hospitals, were shut down on Tuesday.
Wednesday, 26 November
A full general strike will take effect, impacting the two main airports, Bruxelles-Zaventem and Charleroi. Passengers must communicate with airlines for options, such as rebooking or refunding their cancelled flights.
The Bruxelles-Zaventem airport announced that it is expecting significant disruptions to its operations as their security and handling service staff are expected to participate in the strike. All departing flights for Wednesday have been cancelled, and cancellations for more than half of arriving flights were announced.
Meanwhile, Charleroi is also anticipating disruptions during the strike, warning passengers that it cancelled all flights previously scheduled for Wednesday.
The smaller Antwerp and Ostend-Bruge airports will continue running flights as scheduled, The Times reported.
