Three-day strike starts in Belgium in protest of austerity measures

A three-day strike organized by Belgium's major unions gets underway on Monday with major disruptions to be expected in railway and public services as well as air traffic.

Belgian public rail provider SNCB has been offering reduced service since Sunday evening, with one out of every two trains expected to run on Monday.

Peak hour trains will be particularly impacted by the walk-outs, press agency Belga said, and disruption are expected to be noticeable for passengers throughout Wednesday.

On Tuesday, public services are on strike. Schools, daycare, post, waste collection, healthcare and public transport are expected to be impacted by the walk-outs.

On Wednesday, the biggest disruptions are to be expected with many private sectors joining the strike.

No flights will depart from Belgium's two biggest airports in Brussels and Charleroi on Wednesday, the airports announced.

The walk-outs by security and ground staff are also expected to impact arriving flights.

The Belgian centre-right coalition government has announced far-reaching austerity measures with the aim to save €10 billion ($11.5 billion) by 2030.

Belgium, one of the most highly indebted EU countries, has to save billions of euros to comply with the European Union's debt and deficit rules. At the same time, Belgium is compelled to drastically increase its defence spending in the coming years under NATO plans.

The government has been facing increasing pressure from labour unions and the public.

In October around 100,000 people took part in a demonstration in Brussels against the planned austerity measures.