General strike in Belgium 


Belgium’s three union confederations have decided to call a general strike on 13 February to push for improved pay. 


Negotiations, which cover the whole of the private sector, take place every two years and set strict limits, with fines for non-compliance, on pay increases at industry and company level.


The negotiations themselves are constrained by legislation which limits pay increases in Belgium to the level of its neighbours — Germany, France and the Netherlands. 


In the negotiations for 2019-20, which began earlier this month, this bargaining limit has been set at 0.8% over two years. This is on top of increases linked to inflation, which are paid automatically. 


For the unions 0.8% is too little, particularly as it takes no account of the reduction in social insurance payments from which employers have benefitted. In these circumstances, they say, it is “impossible” to negotiate a new agreement and they have therefore called for as extensive a strike as possible on 13 February.