Brussels at virtual standstill as strike grips BelgiumBrussels ground to a virtual standstill on Monday with international train services halted and government offices closed as thousands of workers across Belgium protested against rising living costs. The public sector in the seat of the main European Union European Union (EU), name given since the ratification (Nov., 1993) of the Treaty of European Union, or Maastricht Treaty, to the European Community institutions was the worst affected with some schools also closed alongside factories -- a pattern repeated in other major Belgian cities and towns. The trade union day of action saw nearly all public transport in Brussels grounded late on Sunday, with most tramlines paralysed and very few underground metro trains running. In the midst Adv. 1. in the midst - the middle or central part or point; "in the midst of the forest"; "could he walk out in the midst of his piece?" midmost of a financial storm sweeping through Europe, Eurostar trains to London and Paris as well as high-speed Thalys services to France, Germany and the Netherlands were not running. Road traffic in the capital was also lighter than normal with many non-strikers opting to take the day off. Rail services were also stopped in in the southern region of Wallonia and were infrequent in Flanders to the north. Only the banks made a point of opening, seeking to reassure anxious customers as the global financial crisis hits home. In Belgium's second city of Antwerp, crèches, museums and libraries were closed while in Bruges all public offices remained closed. Charleroi and Liege liege In European feudal society, an unconditional bond between a man and his overlord. Thus, if a tenant held estates from various overlords, his obligations to his liege lord, to whom he had paid “liege homage,” were greater than his obligations to the other in the southern region of Wallonia were also affected. The strike action took place the day after French bank BNP Paribas took a controlling interest controlling interest The ownership of a quantity of outstanding corporate stock sufficient to control the actions of the firm. Controlling interest often involves ownership of significantly less than 51% of a firm's outstanding stock because many owners fail in Belgium's largest banking group Fortis, which has been subject to three different bailout packages in a week. Members of the liberal CGSLB CGSLB Centrale Générale des Syndicats Libéraux de Belgique union took to the streets outside the Brussels stock exchange Brussels Stock Exchange (BSE) Stock exchange that handles the majority of securities transactions in Belgium. distributing leaflets saying "Purchasing power Purchasing Power 1. The value of a currency expressed in terms of the amount of goods or services that one unit of money can buy. Purchasing power is important because, all else being equal, inflation decreases the amount of goods or services you'd be able to purchase. 2. , what's left? Peanuts." "The message is clear," said the union's secretary general Philippe Vandenabeele. "We are calling for better purchasing power for workers. There aren't the reserves left and it's time to think now of Mrs Everywoman rather than thinking of the banks." Thierry Bodson, general secretary of the Wallonia wing of the FGTB FGTB Fédération Générale du Travail de Belgique , one of the country's biggest trade unions, told local radio that one of the strikers' key demands was a reduction in energy costs via lower consumption tax on oil, gas and heating fuel. While the level of protest differed from region to region, meaning the action fell short of a general strike, Bodson recalled that in June some 100,000 people had taken to the streets to protest against the steep rise in living costs. In September, consumer price inflation in Belgium hit 5.46 percent. 
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