Strike brings Antwerp to a virtual standstill
January 31, 2012
Europe’s third-biggest port, Antwerp, was at a virtual standstill yesterday as Belgium’s unions called the country’s first general strike since 1993, to protest at the government’s austerity programme.
The 24-hour industrial action coincided with an EU debt-crisis summit in Brussels.
The Belgian government is trying to bring down the country’s budget deficit with a series of measures, including an increase in the official retirement age, designed to save €11.3 billion.
Most shipping lines seem to be prepared to wait out the stoppage rather than divert to another port.
The main railway station in Brussels was closed while flights at Belgium’s low-cost airport Charleroi were cancelled.
At Brussels Airport, which remained open, a spokesman estimated that about 10% of flights were affected.
Courtesy of IFW
