JOB VACANCY RHEIN SCARVES GAJi BISA NEGO

 Belgian trains, schools, supermarkets and airports ground to a halt on Wednesday as the country’s main trade unions joined forces to call for higher wages and

The strike was largely followed at the country’s three maritime ports. Schools, nurseries and post offices were also affected. Large retailers such as Carrefour, Delhaize and Lidl were mostly closed.

Most train and public urban traffic was reduced to a minimum. Local media reported light traffic on roads as people stayed at home during the strike, the third in four months.

Brussels airport had pre-emptively cancelled 60 per cent of flights. Local media reported that planned flights were able to operate normally.

READ MORE

In Brussels, the capital city hosting most of the  only one metro line was in service, with buses and tramways also disrupted.

Staff in about two thirds of hospitals in the French-speaking Wallonia region and Brussels joined the fray, with non-urgent appointments and operations postponed, the CSC union said.

Inflation hasin the country of 11.5 million since 1975, at 12.27 per cent in October. This has been in large part caused by high energy costs triggered by the war in Ukraine, and Europe’s brutal decoupling from Russian pipeline gas.

The government has announced a support package of €135 ($135) in aid for gas and €61 for electricity from November to March.

But people are increasingly worried about end of the month bills and at the same time, energy companies’ profits are soaring, trade union representative Yves Helendorff of the National Centre of Employees told local TV.

“The government is not going to get everything it could to help people and workers overcome this crisis,” he said.

In Brussels, a simulation for a new electricity and heating subscription for a two-person flat indicated a cost of more than €250 a month on Tuesday.

Unions are insistent that workers have to be shielded from the impact of the price hikes that leave many on the edge of poverty.