Unions in Belgium and Greece mobilize to demand better wages in the face of rising inflation

Unions from at least four European countries carry out strikes this Wednesday and Thursday, demanding better salaries to face the drop in purchasing power due to the strong inflation.

The activities suffered vast stoppages this Wednesday in Belgium y Greeceand strong upheavals are predicted on Thursday in France and in Britainwhere in addition the nurses voted for the first time in more than a century to go on strike without a date yet.

The entire region faces an exponential increase in energy costs as winter approaches, causing a global price hike of 10% that generates impatience and concern in the population.

This Wednesday, the Belgian unions called for a national strike, with the suspension of the train service and closed supermarkets.

At the capital’s main airport, Brussels-Zaventem, 60% of scheduled flights have been canceled due to lack of personnel on operational platforms.

Meanwhile, the Charleroi airport (the main hub of the Ryanair company on the European continent) remained closed, with all its takeoffs cancelled.

The national strike was called by the country’s largest trade union confederation, the Belgian General Federation of Labor (FGTB, socialist), with the support of the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (CSC).

François Reman, spokesman for the CSC, stated that the unions demand “to be able to negotiate salary increases when possible”.

In Brussels, barely a quarter of rail service was running on Wednesday.

Claims in Greece

Meanwhile, Greece was also moving in slow motion and Athens, where traffic is usually heavy, seemed like an abandoned place, with buses, trams, subways, suburban trains, and taxis totally suspended.

Maritime connections between mainland Greece and islands in the Aegean and Ionian seas had also been suspended, as the union that operates those lines also joined the strike.

Summoned by the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE), the main promoter of the strike, some 20,000 people protested in the capital.

According to the Greek police, officers dispersed protests in Athens, where protesters threw red paint at the Central Bank, and in Thessaloniki (second largest city in the north).

“The increase in the cost of living is unbearable,” denounced the GSEE.

The Greek government announced that it has prepared an aid plan so that the population can face the high energy rates, but the unions affirm that it is just a proselytizing measure, eight months before the elections.

General dissatisfaction

In London, a transportation strike on Thursday and also the Royal College of Nursing (RNC), which represents almost half a million nurses and nurses, voted on Wednesday to go on strike – still without a date – for the first time in its 106 years of existence.

Other workers linked to public health area (such as ambulance staff or hospital porters and even cleaning staff) also participate in a consultation that could lead to a stoppage.

The British government has said it has emergency plans in place for a strike by paramedics, but the announcement has not allayed fears about the strike’s impact on a sector still struggling to recover from the chaos caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

In France, various union centrals have called for a one-day national strike for Thursday that should paralyze transport in Paris.

In principle, seven subway lines will have interrupted service, and another seven will operate only during peak hours. Only two automated lines – which do not use drivers – will work normally.

This long-planned strike is being combined with a call for national mobilization by the most influential of the unions, the General Confederation of Labor (CGT).

That union core calls for an improvement in the minimum wage and the indexing of wages to inflation.

In Spain, the Platform in Defense of Transport, a group of freelancers and small freight transport companies, called for a cessation of activities for next Monday. This sector had staged a harsh 20-day strike last March.