The national strike damaged Belgium’s transport infrastructure, with nearly 70,000 people taking to the streets on Monday to protest the effects of inflation.
Trains, buses, trams and air travel were paralyzed by a national strike by unions from across Belgium in response to the country’s spiraling inflation and the ongoing cost of living crisis.
Monday’s strikes in Belgium preceded events scheduled to take place in Europe, and there were major rail and subway strikes in the UK on Tuesday.
According to the report Brussels TimesMonday’s strikes have wreaked havoc in the country, as the capital’s main airport continues to cancel each of its 232 outbound flights due to staff shortages.
Meanwhile, activists took to the streets of the Belgian capital to protest the ongoing suffering. Police reported that 70,000 people attended the demonstrations, but event organizers numbered slightly more, at around 80,000.
“Workers are dying! We can’t anymore! ‘ said a demonstrator La Libre Belgiumanother said the “peanuts” provided by the government were not enough to help those struggling in the current crisis feed the people.
Additional aviation industry strikes are also planned for this week.
‘Militant’ unions accused of using transport strikes to paralyze Britain amid rising inflationhttps://t.co/zVDkmW9vKN
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The demonstrations in Belgium reflect many other actions that must be taken in Europe, and many on the continent are struggling to survive.
For example, there was a devastating rail strike on Tuesday, and some London Underground workers were forced to join the strike to provoke higher wages.
The country’s government ministers put the blame on union officials, and one of them even accused some organizations of bribing workers to protest.
But the big men at the center of the strike insisted that the government was responsible for the upcoming strikes, and Mick Lynch of the rail, shipping and transportation union said the Conservative Party was blocking the deal from happening.
Teachers and health workers in England’s social health system have indicated they could take similar measures if salary packages do not increase to deal with the increasing burden caused by inflation.
“The teachers’ mood has changed,” said the leader of one of the teachers’ unions. “Last year, the problem was mostly workload. It’s a burden and a fee this year. ”
The union spokesperson also said that unless the 3% wage increase proposal presented by the government’s education minister is much improved, the organization will continue to vote if its members go on strike.
Source: Breitbart
