Strike in Belgium/ Travel, schooling and public services disrupted

2025-11-24 08:23:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Belgium faces school closures and disruption to rail and air travel as unions call for three days of strikes starting Monday to protest against the government's proposed spending cuts and changes to labor law.

The strikes are taking place in three waves. Trains and public transport begin the strike on Monday, with national rail company SNCB expected to operate two out of three trains, or just one out of three on some lines. Some lines connecting Brussels to Paris have been canceled.

On Tuesday, public services such as schools, nurseries and hospitals will join the strike. For Wednesday, unions have called for a general strike covering all categories.

No flights are expected on Wednesday at the country's two main airports, Brussels-Zaventem and Charleroi.

The strike was called by Belgium's main unions, which are in a dispute with Prime Minister Bart De Wever over his efforts to reduce the country's debt, one of the highest in Europe along with Greece, Italy and France.

In power since February, the Flemish conservative is trying to impose a major austerity effort through a series of unprecedented structural reforms dealing with labor market liberalization, unemployment benefits, and pensions.

But only a small number of the measures proposed by De Wever have been implemented so far, mainly due to divisions within his five-party coalition.

He has given his coalition until Christmas to reach an agreement, also on his demand for spending cuts to cover an increase in the military budget.

The strike aims to put pressure on the parties as they negotiate among themselves.

This is "an appeal to Prime Minister De Wever and the entire government to put an end to the dismantling of social programs," the unions stated in a press release.

The socialist union FGTB accused the Prime Minister of showing contempt and lack of respect towards this social movement.

De Wever's company declined requests for comment. The union's previous efforts have had mixed results. Tens of thousands of protesters marched through the streets of Brussels in mid-October to protest what they called brutal budget cuts./ CNA