General strike in Belgium too: Thousands on the streets for higher wages and punctuality

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Public and private sectors, schools and transport collapsed – What is happening to wages in Belgium

With significant participation, the 24-hour strike began this morning in Belgium, which was particularly felt in Brussels, but also in other major cities of the country. The strike was mainly in the private sector and most affected transport, as well as trade in large stores. In the public sector, the participation in the strike was more noticeable in the schools, which underperformed, according to the DW.

It is estimated that from the airport of Brussels half of the flights will take place, while the participation was even greater at the other airports, such as those of Charleroi and Liège.

In the city of Brussels, public transport operated at 20% of its capacity, while only one in four trains was running on the country’s railway network.

The main demand of the strikers is the increase in wagesin order to deal with the wave of accuracy that affects all households.

Although Belgium has historically had one of the best systems of income protection through wage indexation, in recent years the mechanism has not worked automatically. The law stipulates that wage increases must take into account what is happening in neighboring countries, namely Germany, France and the Netherlands, so that increases do not harm competitiveness, since Belgium is a purely exporting country.

The workers are however demanding full coverage, with salary increases in line with inflation, which in 2022 is estimated to exceed 10%.

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