Belgium - Three-day national strike - November 30, 2025

The three major trade union confederations — FGTB/ABVV, CSC/ACV and CGSLB — held a coordinated three‑day national action against the federal Government’s proposed reforms to pensions, unemployment benefits and labour‑market flexibility. The unions argue that the reforms will weaken worker protections and lack proper consultation under the social‑dialogue model. The national strike brought airports, public transport and parts of the education sector to a standstill. There were widespread flight cancellations at Brussels and Charleroi airports as ground‑handling staff joined the action. Union leaders criticised the Government for framing the strike as politically motivated instead of addressing concerns about pensions, minimum wages and social‑security financing.

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For more information, please contact Paul de Beer or Oana Ciuca, De Burcht (Scientific Bureau for the Dutch Trade Union Movement) p.t.debeer@uva.nl or the Head of communications at the ETUI, Mehmet Koksal mkoksal@etui.org. For previous full issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit https://www.etui.org/Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter or consult the archive with all articles in our database at www.cbnarchive.eu.
You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org.