Reported by: Agande Richard Aondofa | Edited by: Henry Owen
Brussels, Belgium — October 14, 2025:
Tens of thousands of demonstrators have poured into the streets of Brussels as Belgium faces a nationwide strike over government austerity measures, pension reforms, and spending cuts introduced by Prime Minister Bart de Wever’s centre-right administration.
The coordinated industrial action by Belgium’s three major trade unions has severely disrupted public services and transportation across the country, bringing airports, seaports, and local transit systems to a standstill.
Operations at Charleroi Airport, Belgium’s second largest, were completely suspended, while Brussels Airport cancelled all departures and most arrivals. The disruption extended to Antwerp Port, Europe’s second-busiest, where shipping activities were halted due to understaffing. More than 100 vessels were left waiting in the North Sea, according to Belgium’s MDK maritime and coastal services.
In the capital, public transport was crippled as buses, trams, and metro trains stopped running. Although intercity train services operated intermittently, the general transport paralysis left much of Brussels at a standstill.
By midday, police estimated that more than 80,000 protesters had joined the mass demonstration in central Brussels. Marchers, many wearing the red and green colours of the main unions, voiced strong opposition to government policies they say disproportionately target workers and the public sector.
At the heart of the discontent is the government’s plan to raise the number of working days required before pension eligibility and end special pension schemes for groups such as military and railway workers. The government also intends to limit unemployment benefits to two years, while floating additional austerity proposals, including potential reductions in child benefits and increases in VAT.
“It’s about time we came together,” said Anaïs, 29, one of the demonstrators, holding a placard with the number 67 crossed out in red to protest the pension age rise. “We are asked to work more, to work longer hours. It’s not fair. 65 is enough; 67 is too late.”
The pension age increase — adopted a decade ago but still deeply unpopular — has become a rallying point for unions. Thierry Bodson, president of the ABVV union, told demonstrators that the struggle against austerity “is not just the fight of a day or a year — it’s for a whole generation,” according to the Belga News Agency.
The unrest also reflects broader economic and social tensions within Belgium’s multi-layered system of governance. Regional authorities, facing budgetary pressures of their own, have implemented similar austerity measures. In the Walloon region, the government recently announced that secondary school teachers would be required to work two additional hours per week, prompting educators to join the nationwide strike.
“Nothing is clear, and it’s really worrying,” said Sandrine, 48, a teacher from Liège. “If higher-level teachers are made to work more hours, many jobs will be cut.”
While most protests remained peaceful, authorities reported isolated incidents of vandalism and arson early in the morning. Later in the day, small groups of masked demonstrators clashed briefly with police in parts of the city centre.
The latest strike is one of several waves of industrial unrest since Prime Minister Bart de Wever took office in February 2025. His administration has defended the reforms as necessary to reduce Belgium’s rising budget deficit, but unions and opposition leaders argue that the cuts unfairly burden working families and public sector employees.
Observers say the strike signals growing resistance to austerity policies across Europe, where governments continue to struggle with high debt levels and sluggish economic recovery following years of inflation and fiscal tightening.
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