national demonstration
The unions are once again on the streets of Brussels today for a national demonstration against government policy. It is already the tenth major day of action and the sixth demonstration since the beginning of last year. Follow all updates in this live blog.
Igor Bulcke
Journalist at HLN
LOOK. Rob Van Herck at national demonstration: “The question is what this battle will achieve”
liveblog
40,000 people took part in the national demonstration on Tuesday. The Brussels police reported this on X.
There have Tuesday 40,000 people participated in the national trade union demonstration in Brussels. This is evident from an official count.
It was already the sixth time Since 2025, ACV, ABVV and ACLVB have been rallying their supporters to march through the streets of Brussels against the government. There were also a number of national and regional strikes during that period. All together good for ten big action moments against the policy of the De Wever government.
The head of the procession reaches South Station
The head of the national demonstration arrived at Brussels South Station around 12 noon. There the demonstrators disperse. Everything has been going smoothly so far.
A large police force in combat gear is on standby at the headquarters of the ruling party MR. There have been riots there in the past.
But union stewards lead the demonstrators away from the MR building. Apart from some cheering, everything is quiet.
IN PICTURES. Thousands of demonstrators march through Brussels
ACLVB chairman calls on the government to take the Group of Ten proposal seriously
ACLVB chairman Gert Truyens called on the government during his speech to take the Group of Ten’s proposal seriously. “There are alternatives. But the government has ignored the proposal,” he criticized. “We accept the arrogance of a government that pretends to always be right is not.”
Truyens is also critical of the breakdown of social dialogue. “Social agreements are not decorations for appearances. They must be implemented, especially when the alternative is to protect people instead of presenting them with the bill.”
The government pits employees against each other
Still some passengers at Charleroi airport
According to the spokeswoman for Brussels South Charleroi Airport, there were some passengers at Charleroi airport this morning. The company announced this last week all flights todayboth from and to Charleroi, were canceled by national industrial action.
The airport will open on Wednesday functioning completely normally from the early hours. “The planes are already ready,” said the airport spokeswoman.
ACV: “Important to continue to annoy the government”
“Today it is now or never for pension reform. It is before parliament and we want this demonstration send a strong signal against that reform“, says ACV chairman Ann Vermorgen in an interview with Belga.
Even though, according to Vermorgen, the federal government does not sufficiently take into account the signals from employees, it is still the case important to keep protesting and to “keep pissing off” the government.
Thousands of demonstrators flock to Brussels North Station
Flows at Brussels North Station around 10:00 am thousands of trade unionists for the national demonstration. Police and organizations are present to guide the demonstrators to Koning Albert II-laan. There is a gathering for the manifestation will leave around 11:00 am.
“Everything is rising, except wages”is written on pamphlets that have been distributed.
Half of passenger flights at Brussels Airport can continue
About half of the passenger flights to and from Brussels Airport will be able to continue today. It will being the ninth time since the beginning of last year that activities at Brussels Airport are being disrupted by industrial action that is not aimed at aviation or the airport, but against government measures.
But while in previous actions no passenger flights could usually depart from Brussels Airport, now it was possible part of the activity can still be retained. The fact that the industrial action has an impact on air traffic is because many safety employees and handlers are also taking part in the action.
Being at Charleroi airport all flights cancelled.
Unizo lashes out: “Companies pay early for strikers’ extended weekend”
They are the SMEs who pay for the actions of the unions. Unizo said this in response to the new national demonstration of the trade unions.
This will happen again for thousands of self-employed people and SMEs result in loss of turnoverdeliveries that are delayed, customers who drop out and staff who have difficulty getting to work, Unizo notes. In this way, the companies pay for the strikers’ “early extended weekend”, the business organization says.
The business organization therefore wants that a clearer framework will be created for strikes and industrial action.
🎧 Where can you experience inconvenience from the demonstration?
It is already the sixth time since the beginning of last year that the unions have gathered their supporters to march through the streets of Brussels against the De Wever government. Public transport and airports are particularly affected.
We go over where you may experience inconvenience today due to the demonstration in our podcast HLN Today.
Fewer buses, but more trains
A Demonstrations traditionally cause disruption and that is already the case this morning at STIB and De Lijn.
The Brussels public transport company STIB expected a serious disruption of the metro, tram and bus network in the capitalboth along the route of the demonstration and elsewhere on the net. The frequencies are also lower than on a normal day.
Also the unions at the Flemish public transport company The Line take part in the action. As a result, there will be all over Flanders fewer bus and tram journeys are made. As usual there is one alternative services elaborated.
At the NMBS the trains run normally.
Good morning!
The three unions have once again gathered their supporters to march through the streets of Brussels against the policy of the De Wever government. It is already the tenth major day of action and the sixth demonstration since the beginning of last year.
