Belgian unions staged a one-day walkout on Monday in protest at the new federal government’s planned austerity measures.<br /><br /> Public transport has ground to a halt in Brussels and nearly half of flights in and out of the city’s international airport have been axed.<br /><br /> Philippe Peers, secretary of CGSP union, said the action had been called because the government is “attacking the workers while giving gifts to big companies, to the rich.”<br /><br /> The government wants to cut welfare benefits and raise the retirement age to 67 by 2030 from 65 now.<br /><br /> In Brussels, locals had to find other ways of getting to work.<br /><br /> “It’s obviously disturbing for the working personnel and for all the inhabitants of Brussels,” said one man, who worked in the city’s EU district.<br /><br /> “The strike is always a good option if you know what you are fighting about. And I don’t want to be upset about it. So we are just getting on with our lives and getting to work on foot,” said another worker. <br /><br /> Brussels and two other nearby provinces were affected.<br /><br /> Unions are also threatening to hold a nationwide strike on December the 15th.<br /><br /> Trade unions say if the government doesn’t withdraw the austerity plan, they’ll paralyse the whole country next week with a wider general strike, reports Euronews’ Sandor Zsiros from the Belgian capital.
