Belgium’s three largest trade unions, CSC, FGTB, and CGSLB, called for a nationwide day of demonstration on October 14 in response to various government reform measures including pension reforms and lower pay for night work. Forty-five civil society organizations have signaled their support of the movement, with unions reporting over 100,000 participants at a demonstration scheduled for 10:00 local time in Brussels. While the nationwide action is expected to further disrupt port activities following a week of separate pilot strikes and activist-led blockades, transportation across Belgium will also be heavily impacted due to roadway blockages and participation from aviation and postal workers.
Strike action to heavily disrupt air, ocean, and road logistics
Brussels Airport, one of the city’s two key airports, preemptively cancelled all departing passenger flights ahead of the action along with about half of the airport’s arriving flights. Cancellations at the airport, which was originally scheduled to operate 234 departures and 238 arrivals on October 14, could most heavily impact pharmaceutical shipments given the airport’s role as a pharmaceutical gateway for Europe. In 2022, about 10% of the total volume of goods handled at Brussels Airport were pharmaceutical products. Brussels South Charleroi Airport, the city’s other major airport, has cancelled all departing and arriving flights. The regional airports of Deurne and Ostend remain fully operational.
The morning of October 14, traffic issues have also been reported after demonstrators set fire to various locations along the inner ring road of Brussels. The Annie Cordy, Botanique, and Rogier tunnels were also temporarily closed. Police representatives have indicated that traffic jams are especially likely on the route of the demonstration between North and South Brussels. Moderate postal disruptions, particularly at sorting centers, have also been reported given the strike participation of postal workers in Flanders, Brussels, and Wallonia.
Since October 5, the Ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge (collectively the Port of Antwerp-Bruges) have seen severe delays and congestion related to an indefinite strike called by pilots from the Professional Association of Pilots (BvL) union limiting daily working hours. Pilots have continued their strike action during the nationwide action, further disrupting operations at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges and the Port of Ghent. In addition to pilot action at the major container ports, workers of the maritime traffic control center in Zandvliet (Antwerp) are participating in mobilizations, leading to understaffing that began the evening of October 13 and is expected to last until the morning of October 15. The Zandvliet station not only regulates traffic to and from container terminals but also handles lock schedules for maritime navigation and radar guidance in the Scheldt region. As a result, action by the maritime traffic control center may impact shipping both for sea and inland waterway ports. Due to insufficient staffing at the control center in Zandvliet, no vessels are currently permitted to navigate on the Scheldt River.
As of 09:00 local time on October 14, port authorities reported that the entry and exit for sea and inland shipping is blocked until 07:30 local time October 15 at the Port of Antwerp, impacting 83 ships were registered as incoming at 49 were registered as outgoing. From the evening of October 13, port authorities also noted that Flemish warehouses are not operational due to strike action and blockages. At the Port of Zeebrugge, although shipping operations remain possible the morning of October 14, the pilotage service is unavailable and large liquefied natural gas shipping has been blocked. Seven incoming and four outgoing vessels were reported at Zeebrugge in terms of congestion. At 09:30 local time on October 14, 105 vessels were stuck in the North Sea waiting to approach the ports of Antwerp-Bruges or Ghent, a 21 vessel increase from October 13 and nearly 80-vessel increase from the first day of strike action by pilots on October 5.
As Europe’s second largest container port, the world’s largest car port, and a key hub for chemicals and steel shipments, further escalations to disruptions at Antwerp-Bruges may severely impact nearly every industry. When considering inland shipping alone, Antwerp serves as the second largest region in Europe for inland waterway freight by volume and handles about 18% of all inland waterway freight containers in the European Union. Of goods handled for inland waterway transport in Antwerp, most shipments contained metal ores, which made up 12.7% of all goods by tonnes loaded or unloaded in 2023; 7.8% of shipments were chemicals, rubber and plastic, or nuclear fuel, and 5.1% of shipments were coke and refined petroleum products. About 120 inland vessels are expected to be impacted by the strike.
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