Belgium in general strike gathers to euro-resistance

Written by The Week/Nelson Peralta e Renato Soeiro, 04/02/2012

Monday, January 30, a large part of Belgium was paralysed due to general strike announced by three main unions against the austerity measures applied by the new government, imposed by the European Union, together with the threat od punishing measures. No public transport circulated in Brussels and larger part of European leaders will have to use helicopters, plains and military airports to arrived at the summit scheduled for the Belgium capital.

The Belgian government of coalition, leaded by the socialist Elio di Rupo, that putted an end to a 541 days of political crisis, says to be forces to cut in public expenses in about eleven billion euros, an amount that will shake all the Belgian economy and reach in first place, as in most countries, the salaries and the workers social rights.

Being Belgium a country the size of about a third of Portugal, this value has an enormous impact if compared, for example, with the volume of the last cut predicted by the French government, of seven billion euros.

The general strike in Belgium is the first in almost 20 years. “We have always said a plan of fiscal consolidation was necessary, but that must be done protecting the most vulnerable”, declared Claude Rolin, secretary general the Christian Union Confederation, considered the strongest union in the country.

The government of Elio di Rupo is already being accused by the Belgian workers of doing “a Zapatero way” in a time when the unemployment plague is becoming even more aware in Europe with the announce of the existence of more 23 million citizens without job, about 10 percent, according to the Eurostat.

Belgian sovereign debt currently reached the 100 percent of GDP and have suffered regular degradations by the north-american rating agencies. The threats of sanctions proffered by the European Commission oblige Belgium to seek 1300 million euros of supplemental economies over the 2012 budget.

Monday, no bus, metro or troleybus circulated in Brussels. Brussels National Airport registered serious congestions and delays, Charleroi was completely closed. The railway communications from and to Brussels, namely with Paris, Amsterdam, London and Cologne are paralysed, including the high speed compositions.

The post offices not worked and the workers from Antwerpen harbour, one of the largest in Europe, completely paralysed the activity. In some of the country roads, the union committees promote stoppage of traffic operations to disclose information on the motives for social struggle.