Trade unions blocking Belgium's future

The Belgian parliament approved the country's pension reform on Friday, which among other things raises the retirement age from 60 to 62. The mass strikes staged against this measure in the public service sector the day before show how backwards the trade unions are, the liberal daily De Standaard comments: "Our society must seek a new balance. Between expectations and reality. Between what we want and what we can pay for. Between the rights of some and the rights of others. ... To defend the status quo at the expense of the future is not a legitimate option. Not even for those one wants to protect. This is a battle that the trade unions will lose because they have no answer to the accusation that they are pitting the generations against each other. ... Now the involved parties must start a dialogue. Not to prevent things from happening but to make decisions that are not just responsible but also feasible and affordable."

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