Belgian unions have renewed their challenge to the federal government’s budget plans following demonstrations in Brussels on 9 October 2026. FGTB says further action could follow in the week of 23 November if the government crosses its stated red lines on wages, taxation and working time. That is a conditional warning, rather than confirmation of a nationwide stoppage.
In its post-demonstration statement, FGTB Brussels claimed 50,000 participants. The union opposed changes to wage indexation, higher VAT and imposed annualisation of working time, and called instead for revenue from wealth, capital income and corporate profits.
Different estimates and tactics
The Brussels Times’ report gave a police turnout estimate of 30,000, alongside the union’s 50,000. These are competing estimates of the same mobilisation and should remain attributed.
An Associated Press report of the same day quotes police as saying those responsible for the public-order problems were not linked to the anti-austerity rally. AP describes the union march itself as peaceful. That distinction prevents the separate clashes from being attributed to the wider demonstration. CSC-ACV pursued a different approach, with actions outside governing parties’ headquarters.
The new warning has its own timetable
The BBC’s earlier report concerns a national strike on 14 October 2025. Its airport cancellations and transport disruption should not be read as a description of services in October 2026.
The current development is the renewed budget dispute and the union’s conditional escalation. FGTB’s action notices set out that campaign, but do not establish that every transport operator will stop on a particular November date.
Any eventual strike coverage will need confirmed dates and operator-specific notices. The political warning alone is insufficient grounds to tell passengers that their services have been cancelled.
