Trade unions in Belgium began a month of intermittent strike action yesterday by shutting down the port of Antwerp and slowing train traffic throughout much of the country.
The aim is to force a change in policy from the government, which has introduced measures to cut employees' incomes, delay pensions for two years and restrict social services.
A strike by port staff prevented navigation into the ports of Antwerp, Ghent and Zeebrugge, leaving 26 ships waiting to leave the port and a further 15 unable to enter.
Annik Dirkx, communication manager for the Antwerp Port Authority, told Eurofruit yesterday evening: 'Fortunately the strike is approaching its end. This afternoon we had 55 ships that weren't able to leave or enter the port. We expect operations to start up in the course of the evening.'
Dirkx suggested that the situation would be back to normal by this (Tuesday) evening.
CEO Eddy Bruyninckx revealed that his greatest worry was the potential damage to the port's reputation. He called for social talks between employers and unions so that EU port policies could be adopted in the harbour, which is responsible for around 10 per cent of Flanders' GDP.
He stated that much of the grievance surrounded EU port policies, with the EU pushing Belgium to change legislation stating that only port workers could do certain jobs.
Direct action is set to culminate in a nationwide strike on 15 December.
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