Public services across Brussels are expected to face disruption next week due to a strike by some trade union members.
On Tuesday, 23 June, trade unions will march in the capital in defence of public services and social protections.
The mobilisation comes a week after a similar gathering in Namur and will see union members march under the banner of "human dignity and the defence of public services".
The full impact of the strike remains unclear. For the moment, some services have already warned of disruptions.
Brussels' waste collection agency, Bruxelles Propreté, has announced rubbish collections may be affected, although residents are still being asked to put out their bags according to the usual schedule. Any missed collections will be carried out during catch-up rounds from the following day.
No announcement has yet been made by the Belgian railway operator SNCB regarding potential disruption to train services.
The demonstration will begin at 09:00 outside the Petit Château reception centre on Boulevard du Neuvième de Ligne, with marchers setting off at 10:00.
The route will take participants past ministries responsible for social integration and public health, as well as employment agency Actiris and the French Community Commission (Cocof), before continuing towards the federal and Brussels regional government offices. The march is expected to conclude at Place de la Monnaie around midday.
According to the public sector union CGSP Admi, the action coincides with the International Day of Public Services, which it says should be a day of celebration rather than protest.
In its strike notice, the union accuses governments at all levels of treating public services and their staff as "budgetary adjustment variables" and denounces what it calls unprecedented political attacks on the sector.
"The logic of austerity has become an end in itself," the union said.
The organisation also argues that recent policies threaten Belgium's social security system and disproportionately affect vulnerable groups, including asylum seekers, migrants, unemployed people losing benefits, welfare recipients and those on long-term sick leave.
CGSP Admi added that strike pay would only be granted to affiliated members who attend the demonstration and sign the attendance register.
