Traffic is expected to be disrupted in central Brussels on Tuesday due to a demonstration against federal pension reforms organised by labour unions united in a common front. Thousands of people will march through the streets of the capital, while rallies are also scheduled for other Belgian cities.
The unions’ demands include end-of-career time-credits at age 55 years and a legal pensionable age of 65 years maximum. The Common Front is also demanding decent severance payments that take extra tough work into account.
The meeting is to be held from 10h00 at Albertina Square. The procession will start at about 10.45 a.m, travelling along Impératrice, Berlaimont and Pachéco boulevards, and then turning into Boulevard du Jardin botanique. It will end at the Central Station after going through boulevard Bischoffsheim, rue du Congrès, rue Royale, rue de la Ligne, rue du Marquis, rue de Loxum and the Cantersteen.
Awareness actions will be held along the entire journey.
A trade union delegation will meet Prime Minister Charles Michel as well as the Speaker of the Chamber, Siegfried Bracke.
Due to the participation of its employees in the demonstration, the Brussels intercommunal transport company, STIB, expects disruptions on its train, subway and bus network.
Elsewhere in Belgium, demonstrations are to be held in Namur, Liège, La Louvière, Antwerp, Ghent, Kortrijk (Courtrai), Hasselt and Leuven. In Liège Province, FGTB’s Liège-Huy-Waremme chapter has decided to go a step farther and call a 24-hour strike.
In Wallonia, disruptions are to be expected throughout the TEC, the regional bus network. In Flanders, De Lijn public transport company is bracing for a similar situation along its network. However, Belgium’s railway utility, the SNCB, has stated that its train schedule is not expected to be affected.
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The Brussels Times
