Belgian Firemen Hose Ministry in Pensions Protest

December 22, 2011 from Euronews

"Pas d'accord!" (We don't agree!) read the slogan. The protester carrying the large red billboard was referring to Belgium's planned pension reforms. Opposition to government austerity measures has seen the country hit by a general strike, causing severe disruption to the public sector. As well as public transport, schools, hospitals and other services such as post offices have been affected.

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Belgium

Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters as well as those of several other major international organisations such as NATO. Belgium covers an area of 30,528 sq... Explore this topic

General strike

A general strike is a strike action in which a substantial proportion of the total labour force in a city, region, or country participates. General strikes are characterized by the participation of workers in a multitude of workplaces, and tend to involve entire communities. G... Explore this topic

Public sector

The public sector, sometimes referred to as the state sector or the government sector, is a part of the state that deals with either the production, ownership, sale, provision, delivery and allocation of goods and services by and for the government or its citizens, whether nat... Explore this topic

Austerity

In economics, austerity describes policies used by governments to reduce budget deficits during adverse economic conditions. These policies can include spending cuts, tax increases, or a mixture of the two. Austerity policies may be attempts to demonstrate governments' liquidi... Explore this topic

Anti-austerity protests

Anti-austerity protests, chiefly taking the form of massive street protests by those affected by them and some of them also involving a greater or lesser degree of militancy, have happened regularly across various countries, especially on the European continent, since the onse... Explore this topic

Firefighter

Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten property and civilian or natural populations and to rescue people from dangerous situations, such as collapsed or burning buildings The complexity of modern ind... Explore this topic

Public transport

Јавни превоз је заједнички превоз путника односно услуга која је доступна за коришћење, за разлику од приватног транспорта, као што су такси, минибус или приватни аутобуси. Јавни линијски превоз путника обавља се на: ⁕сталним линијама, ⁕сезонским линијама и ⁕ванредним линијама. Explore this topic

Post office

A post office, historically also a posthouse, is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail, such as letters, small packages, and usually money. Post offices offer mail-related services such as accep... Explore this topic

Pension

A pension is a contract for a fixed sum to be paid regularly to a person, typically following retirement from service. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum. The terms retirement... Explore this topic

Euronews

Euronews is a European, multilingual news television channel, headquartered in Lyon-Écully, France. Created in 1993, it claims to be covering world news from a Pan-European perspective. Explore this topic

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Belgium

General strike

Public sector

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