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Sudden! National general strike, logistics or total paralysis! | Maritime export logistics
Mar 31,2025
Belgium is on the verge of a massive national strike on March 31. The strike is expected to have a severe impact on the country's transport and freight, port operations and public services sectors.
The strike was triggered by Belgium's main trade union group calling on workers to take action to protest a series of measures introduced by the new government, including pension and labour market reforms, to express strong dissatisfaction with the reforms.
Back in February 2025, the new Belgian government unveiled a plan to cut the budget by 23 billion euros over the next five years, covering public transport, health care, pensions and other public welfare areas.
Among them, pension reforms have been controversial, with many workers arguing that they will greatly reduce their quality of life after retirement, leading to widespread social discontent.
Belgium's transport system has been the first to suffer as a result of the strike and will face a total "paralysis." Railways, roads, ports and air transport will be hit hard.
In the railway sector, Belgium's largest railway union has explicitly taken part in the strike, which will no doubt result in a significant reduction or even a complete shutdown of rail services. At that time, people's travel will become extremely inconvenient and the transport of goods will come to a standstill.
Road transport will also be greatly hampered. Roads to the port of Zeebrugge and Antwerp are expected to be blocked all day. This is no doubt a "disaster" for trucking. Operators cannot reach their posts on time, and core port operations such as terminal loading and dispatching of ships will also be affected, and the entire port's logistics chain will be thrown into disarray.
In the port sector, Belgium's maritime workers, which include crews and pilots, are also scheduled to hold a national strike on March 31. It is worth mentioning that, as early as March 19, Belgium's maritime workers over pension cuts strike, that strike to the port of antwerp and the Beihai port caused a lot of difficult problems. If the strike were to be repeated, the port's operation would be made worse.
The situation in the aviation sector is not encouraging, either. The two main airports in the Belgian capital, Brussels and Charleroi, have announced the cancellation of all flights from March 31. Brussels airport revealed that ground crews and security personnel would also join the strike, which means that operations at the airport will be severely disrupted on that day and many travelers' journeys will be forced to change.
Apart from the transportation system, public services are not immune. Brussels' subway, tram and bus networks are expected to experience "severe disruptions." The normal operation of public services such as schools and hospitals may also be disrupted, causing many inconveniences to people's daily life.
In light of this, the Chinese embassy in Belgium has issued a reminder advising Chinese citizens to properly cope with the impact of the national strike in Belgium. Citizens should adjust their travel arrangements in advance and try to avoid travelling to Belgium during the strike, especially avoiding areas where strikes are concentrated.
If you do need to travel, be sure to keep a close eye on the latest news from local media and officials, and make a well-planned response ahead of time.
In fact, strikes like this are not uncommon in Europe. France, Italy, Greece, Spain and other countries have seen large-scale strikes triggered by popular discontent with government policies.
These strikes often have varying degrees of impact on local social order, economic development and people's lives. We will see how the national strike in Belgium will play out and whether it will prompt the government to review relevant reform measures.
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