Belgium profiles as weak and unstable because of strikes

Last week, on the 24th of June, there was a nationwide strike in Belgium. The socialist unions spewed their displeasure about the savings and the government policy. They announced a 24-hour strike from Thursday 23rd of June at 22.00 hrs to Friday 24th of June at 22.00 hrs. Mostly the public transport suffers from the strike. In Flanders the train system was disturbed, and in the south of Belgium it was heavily disturbed.

Most scheduled flights cancelled
There are strikes and disturbances at most of the airports as well. Tom Gemels of Fresh Express, part of the logistics service for airfreight perishables in Brussels, stated that many scheduled flights were cancelled. “The flights that usually go to Liège or Brussels, now moved to Maastricht, Amsterdam, or France. Even Qatar flew to Amsterdam instead of Liège. The staff of Brucargo stayed at home during the strike, and the access to the cargo was blocked by the union. Several special transports were admitted.” The financial damage for Fresh Express was estimated by Tom Gemels at 2000 Euro.

Danger for Belgium
Many companies are fed up with the unions that are taking their income. “First of all, many companies suffer financial loss because of this. Second of all, Belgium profiles itself as a weak and unstable country. Belgium has soured and the government should take action urgently. Because of the repeated strikes, there is a possibility that important flights will start looking for alternative airports outside of Belgium. The danger is that many jobs might be lost.”

Blockades of port Antwerp have been lifted
If it were up to the socialist union ACOD, the locks would have been blocked on Friday. “The ports must fall. We aim for economic damage,” he said. Annik Dirkx, communications officer, stated that the effect on the port of Antwerp was limited and everything is back to normal. “Friday morning there were some blockades, so incoming traffic could not get into the port. In the afternoon the blockades were removed by police.”

BNFW: Business as usual
According to the BNFW (Belgian New Fruit Wharf) in Antwerp (division Sea-invest), they did not experience any inconvenience regarding their work. “We had just started with a ship that came in during the morning. The port functioned just like any day and the dockers too, business as usual. The public transport was affected the most, which has no repercussions for us. As for the rest of the port, I have no clear view on it,” according to Johan Claes.