BRUSSELS
Belgium’s labor unions have begun their latest strike in a month-long series of regional industrial actions across the country as EU finance ministers gather in Brussels to discuss national budget plans.
Transport services in the capital, Brussels, and the province of Walloon Brabant were affected by the stoppage on Monday by members from Belgium’s three main trade unions; the Christian Trades Union ACV, the Socialist Trades Union ABVV and the Liberal Trades Union ACLVB, which have more than three million members between them.
Police warned commuters to stay away from the Belgian capital as domestic and international rail services were disrupted.
Managers at Brussels airport warned at least 46 percent of flights were cancelled and others subjected to delays.
The United Arab Emirates-based airlines Emirates and Etihad also cancelled flights to Brussels.
- General strike looms
Workers and labor unions have been angered by so-called "austerity measures" being imposed by Belgium’s new center-right government which include a two-year extension to the age of retirement, cuts in spending on healthcare and delays to the indexation of wages in relation to prices.
They are staging series of strikes, which began on Nov. 24, every Monday in selected regions across Belgium which are due to culminate in a general strike on Dec. 15.
About 100,000 workers took the streets in Brussels on November 6 to protest against the government’s austerity measures and pledges to cut corporation tax from 33 percent to 25 percent.
The linguistically divided country – which has French, Dutch and German speakers – is facing a slow-moving economy, which is expected to grow little more than one percent this year.
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