What services are disrupted due to the unions’ national day of action?

The trade unions are protesting over the following issues:

Government pension reforms remain difficult to digest for many, even though they have now been partially revised. People will have to work longer, and women in particular seem to be the biggest victims. They are more likely than men to work part-time, which means they will be affected more by the pension reforms.

The labour market is being made more flexible. Night work is becoming cheaper for employers, and more voluntary overtime is possible. Mini-contracts are also being introduced. Minimum working hours an employee can be asked to perform are being reduced, meaning that a contract can be as little as a tenth of a full-time contract.

According to the trade unions, spending power will be further eroded. There is the temporary limit being placed on automatic wage increases in line with inflation.  Above a certain amount salaries will not be topped up on two occasions. This means that for people on medium and higher wages price rises will not be fully compensated. There are also the VAT reforms and the higher health insurance costs decided by the Flemish government.

The trade unions argue Belgium’s wealthiest are not being asked to contribute enough to the government’s savings drive and that the measures are therefore not fairly distributed.

Where will we notice the effects of the day of action?

Public transport and airports will be particularly affected. The impact on schools and childcare facilities is expected to be much smaller. An overview.

No passenger flights will depart from Brussels Airport in Zaventem (Flemish Brabant). Charleroi Airport will be completely shut down. This will affect some 42,500 passengers at Brussels Airport (27,000 who will be unable to depart as well as more than 15,000 passengers on incoming flights).

Major disruption is expected at Flemish local transport company De Lijn hitting bus and tram services throughout Flanders and in its capital, Brussels. An ‘alternative service’ is available. Like on the railways in recent days this means services will run as long as staff are available. Check in advance whether your bus or tram is running via De Lijn’s app or website. It is expected that 40 per cent of buses and trams will not be running.

In Brussels, at the MIVB, tram, bus and metro services will be severely disrupted.

Here too, it is important to check your route in advance.

The three-day rail strike has now ended today.

The railways are even laying on 12 extra trains to bring protesters to Brussels. The extra trains will terminate at Brussels-North and depart from stations including Antwerp-Central, Gent-Sint-Pieters and Liège-Guillemins.

The education unions are also participating in the national day of action. This may disrupt schools. It is difficult to predict the impact, but the disruption in schools should be limited because the intention is not to bring them to a standstill.

Where will disruption materialise due to the demo?

The previous trade union demonstration attracted around 80,000 people, and the trade unions hope to match this. The demonstrators will gather at Brussels North Station at around 10 a.m., and 12 extra trains have been laid on.

The first speeches will begin around 10.30 a.m., and the demonstration itself is expected to start half an hour to an hour later. It will then proceed via the inner Brussels orbital ‘Kleine Ring’ towards the South Station.

The police strongly advise against travelling to Brussels by car today. The tunnels of the Kleine Ring will be closed from 10 a.m. onwards.