World
Belgian workers take to the streets protesting poor working conditions
Demonstrators complain that their working conditions have worsened significantly in recent years.
Belgian workers took to the streets of Brussels on Monday, as they protested against “attacks on the right to strike”.
The demonstration saw up to 20,000 people take part in the general strike that was called by unions after the federal government announced its intention to go ahead with a new law banning rioters from taking part in protests.
Many workers taking part dressed themselves in prison costumes to illustrate their point.
“This is what is likely to happen if we do not hurry to block the laws that are being put in place,” Philippe Barbion, from the FGTB union said.
“Today, the fact of demonstrating, of negotiating becomes repressed by the law and therefore today, we wanted to show that if we do nothing, tomorrow we will go to demonstrate, we will all go to jail.”
Demonstrators are also angry about a series of recent judicial decisions that oblige protesters to lift their blockades in front of Belgian supermarket chain Delhaize. Their protest, against the franchising of the company, has been ongoing for three months now.
Olivier Lecomte, permanent secretary at the CGSLB union, told Euronews that the government’s proposed law could perpetuate these types of practices against picketing.
“Between protesting and blocking a company in the context of discontent – and breaking it – is totally different,” he said.
Corinne Sachot, a caregiver who took part in the protests said that she is simply exercising her right to strike.
“We are not here to vandalise. We are here to claim our rights. It’s not the same thing,” she told Euronews.
The demonstrators have called what is happening in Belgium “social dumping”, saying that they will continue fighting against it, otherwise it will likely spread to other sectors.
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Horrifying video shows the aftermath of a deadly tourist plane crash on a highway in France on Sunday.
The crash took place on the A4 highway near Collegien, a small commune in the Seine-et-Marne region of the country. Collegien is roughly 18 miles east of Paris.
Three people, a woman and two men, were killed in the crash. According to Storyful, the plane had two other occupants, but their statuses are unknown.
Social media footage shows bumper-to-bumper traffic next to the mangled plane, which appeared to be lying upside down.
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French officials are investigating a plane crash that took place near a highway on Sunday. (Lin via Storyful)
In the video, smoke was billowing from the scene as emergency officials tended to the crash.
Local prosecutor Jean-Baptiste Bladier told the French newspaper Le Parisian that the pilot “very likely” hit a high voltage line shortly after the plane took off. Local reports say that Bladier is investigating the situation as a possible involuntary manslaughter.
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At least three people died in the deadly plane crash. (Lin via Storyful)
Plane crashes next to or on highways are rare. In August 2023, a small aircraft crashed on the side of a Malaysian highway, killing at least nine people.
In February, two people died in a plane crash on Interstate 75 in Naples, Florida.
The plane crash caused bumper-to-bumper traffic on the French highway. (Lin via Storyful)
French authorities are actively investigating the situation. No other information is known at this time.
The UK Labour leader expressed willingness to work with any government in Europe.
Labour leader Keir Starmer has said he will press on with plans to re-negotiate part of the post-Brexit Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) with the European Union, even if the far-right National Rally (RN) of Marine Le Pen enters government in France.
Starmer – whose Labour party is topping opinion polls ahead of Thursday’s general election – told reporters on the campaign trail on Monday that he didn’t think a far-right win in France would change his party’s “overall intention” of negotiating “a better deal with the EU.”
The UK general election is sandwiched between the two rounds of snap legislative elections in France, abruptly convened by President Emmanuel Macron in what has been described as a high-stakes political gamble.
The far-right National Rally – which has seen its support bolstered under the leadership of Le Pen’s 28-year old protégé Jordan Bardella – swept to victory with 33.4% of the national vote during the first round on Sunday.
The left-wing New Popular Front coalition came in second at 27.9% the vote, with Macron’s centrist alliance trailing third at 20.7%. It places the far-right RN as firm favourites going into the second round, although other parties may tactically remove their candidates from the race in order to block a far-right victory.
“l work with any government in Europe and across the world if we are elected in to serve the country. For me, that’s what serious government is about,” Starmer said on Monday.
But he also made a pitch for centrist forces such as his own Labour party, which is perceived to have gravitated more towards the centre-ground since he replaced Jeremy Corbyn as the party’s leader in 2020.
“The lesson that I take from nationalism and populism, wherever it is across Europe (…) is that we need to address the everyday concerns of so many people in this country who feel disaffected by politics,” Starmer said.
“We have to take that head on and we have to show on Thursday in the UK and across Europe and the world that only progressives have the answer to the challenges that are facing us in this country and across Europe.”
The Labour leader – who campaigned to remain in the European Union ahead of the 2016 Brexit referendum – has kept details of his plan to re-open the post-Brexit trade deal with Brussels vague.
His shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has suggested that chemicals regulation and financial services could be potential areas were a prospective Labour government could seek greater EU alignment.
Starmer has firmly assured he will not seek re-joining the EU’s single market or customs union, or allow the return of freedom of movement. A clause in the post-Brexit TCA foresees a review of the deal in 2026.
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