Unions start action against austerity measures
The unions have planned a national demonstration through the streets of Brussels on Thursday and they hope to mobilise as many people as possible.
On Monday union activists handed out leaflets calling on their members and others to join Thursday’s demonstration at the entrances to companies across Belgium including the VRT.
The unions will hold meetings to inform their members about the action they plan to take against the austerity measures. They will also use the meetings to call on their members to join Thursday’s demonstration.
As well as holding workplace meetings, the unions also handed out leaflets at railway stations and other public places on Monday morning.
A winter of discontent
Monday marks to start of the unions' campaign against the proposed cuts. The campaign includes demonstrations, days of action and a national strike planned for next month.
A strike is possible every day from now. Thursday’s march will be the first major demonstration against the austerity measures. As well as trade unionists other groups such as students, the scouts and artists are also considering taking part.
Disruption to public transport
The Christian trade union at the Brussels public transport company MIVB has called on its members to down tools during Thursday’s national demonstration.
The union says that no buses, trams or metros will run in the capital for the duration of the demonstration. 80% of MIVB staff are reported to want to take part in the demonstration.
This means that pretty much the whole of the MIVB’s public transport network in Brussels will be out of action for much of Thursday.
Meanwhile, the services of the Flemish public transport company De Lijn are also expected to be severely disrupted on Thursday. The Christian trade union ACV reports that many of its members that work for De Lijn want to come to Brussels to join the protest.
However, this doesn’t mean that there will be no services running at all as ACV has not called on its members to strike.
