Public transportation in Belgium has been seriously affected and many schools and municipal services are closed Monday as three Belgian trade unions called a nation-wide strike to protest falling purchasing power.
Public transportation is very sporadic and the international train service is disrupted, Belgian broadcaster VRT reported. The trams and buses in the northern half of Belgium and in the capital of Brussels are running sporadically if at all.
The roads and highways are more congested than usual on Monday morning because of the strike in the public transport sector. Some people took the day off work, or are working at home, the report said.
Teachers and civil servants also joined the strike. In some municipal schools, the strike is general. Some municipal or provincial offices are closed. Employees in some shops and companies also went on striking.
Strike notification was given by the Post Office, but it is not clear how big the impact will be for mail distribution on Monday, the report said.
The trade unions accused the Belgian government and the employers of not taking the issue of diminishing purchasing power seriously.
The chairman of the socialist trade union ACOD, Rudy De Leeuw, said the union has been waiting for 15 months for something to be done about the problem, but nothing has been done.