National strike cripples Belgium

A national strike to demand higher pay has paralysed airports, seaports and rail traffic in Belgium, while hundreds of factories are shut down for the day.

Trade unions are protesting limits on wage increases during times of economic growth and want better conditions for early retirement, minimum wages and better education on the job.

The centre-right government of Prime Minister Charles Michel is not in a position to forcefully react to such demands at the moment since it is in a caretaker capacity after the coalition broke down late last year.

There were almost no flights landing at or departing from Belgian airports on Wednesday since air traffic controllers could not guarantee safety with a skeleton staff.

The air traffic control agency, Skeyes, announced that it would not allow any flights to or from the country because it could not determine with certainty which employees would come to work.

Rail, bus and ports

The national railway company expected half the trains nationwide would be cancelled because of the movement, but high speed train traffic to London and Paris should be mostly spared.

Dock workers were not loading or unloading ships in the port of Antwerp. Blockades stopped work at factories across the country.

Brussels' metro, tram and bus operator ran just a handful of lines.

The situation was the same in the rest of the country.

Call for talks

Michel said talks needed to resume by Thursday and added that companies had created 219,000 jobs in the past four years thanks to the government's policies.

Belgium's Central Council of the Economy, composed of worker, employer and consumer representatives, has advised that the maximum pay hike for 2019 and 2020 should be 0.8 percent. 

Michel's office said that, including wage indexation, this meant an effective pay increase of up to 4.6 percent.