EI's Belgian affiliates, CSC-Enseignement, ACOD and CGSP, joined the three national labour confederations in a united front to protest the declining purchasing power of workers.

Chief amongst the workers' demands are:

• A fair salary package for public sector workers, including teachers, to meet the current cost of living;
• Reduction of taxes for medium and low income earners;
• Increased access to quality childcare at affordable prices;
• Pay equity;
• Protection of the federal character of social security provision, labour rights, and collective agreements.

Despite the driving rain in the Belgian capital, around 10,000 people defied the weather this 12th June to march through the city centre in the culmination of a three-day nationwide campaign that saw the mobilisation of an estimated 80,000 workers and citizens throughout Belgium. Demonstrations have been gaining pace in Europe, as well as in developing countries, in response to the alarming increase in the price of basic commodities and the inadequacy of workers' purchasing power.