Belgian unions warn of further action on pensions

Belgian's three main union confederations organised a 24-hour general strike on 28 October over the government's plans on early-retirement.

The unions say they will consider further action if the government fails to make further concessions.

The Belgian government has been looking at changes to the country's retirement arrangements as part of an attempt to increase the proportion of the population in employment.

However, unions were concerned that the plans threatened existing rights to take early retirement, in particular by raising the date from which early retirement could be taken from 58 to 60.

The strike call by the three confederations - the CSC (Christian), FGTB (socialist) and the CGSLB (liberal) - was widely supported and 100,000 demonstrators marched through the capital, Brussels. (The FGTB had already taken action independently on 7 October.)

As a result the government reconsidered its proposals and last month came forward with a new 'Pact of the generations'. This made a series of changes to their initial plans, including returning to 58 as the normal starting point for early retirement.

However, this has not satisfied the unions and at a meeting on 22 November they agreed a new joint position calling for further concessions by the government.