Belgium fourth for strikes in international ranking

Belgium has come fourth in a study of strike days in 22 OECD countries - as more details emerge of a pan-industry Belgian strike on 10 October.

The research by the Cologne Institute for Economic Research named France as the most strike-prone country, with 123 working days lost to strikes per 1,000 workers. Denmark came second and Canada third, followed by Belgium on 79 days, up from 71 a decade ago.

Japan, Slovakia, Switzerland and Austria were the countries studied whose economies were least affected by strikes. But international comparisons are hard to achieve: German data does not include strikes under 24 hours, US stats ignore strikes with less than 1,000 workers - and figures for Greece and Italy were not available.

Unions in Belgium are calling for a widespread day of strike action next Tuesday, 10 October. Railway workers belonging to the CGSP union will take part from 22.00 the previous day.

Disruption is also expected in schools and on Stib, De Lijn and TEC public transport services. More details will be available later this week.