Belgium’s biggest labour federations—FGTB-ABVV, CSC-ACV and CGSLB—will launch a rare coordinated 72-hour strike from midnight on Monday 24 November through Wednesday 26 November, paralysing rail, air and urban transport networks across the country. Although the industrial action targets domestic pension and wage reforms, its impact will be felt well beyond Belgium’s borders, especially by French companies and commuters who rely on dense cross-border transport links.
The Belgian rail operator SNCB will run only a “minimum service”, while infrastructure manager Infrabel warns that maintenance crews will also walk out. Eurostar has already flagged that only half of its Brussels-Paris trains and a fifth of its Brussels-Germany services are expected to operate, with knock-on effects possible for London-Paris services that rely on the same rolling stock rotations.
At Brussels-Zaventem airport, unions representing security screeners and ground-handling staff have filed notices, prompting airlines—including Air France-KLM and easyJet—to pre-emptively cancel or consolidate flights. Road hauliers face clogged motorway corridors as public-sector bus drivers join picket lines, squeezing the E19 and A1 corridors that funnel lorry traffic between Paris and Antwerp.
![Belgium’s three-day general strike set to spill over into France-bound travel]()
French businesses with Belgian subsidiaries—or with staff commuting from Lille, Valenciennes or Maubeuge into Wallonia—should expect severe disruptions. Mobility managers are advising remote work where possible and urging travellers to keep hotel rooms on both sides of the frontier in case last-minute overnights become unavoidable. Companies whose posted workers require time-sensitive residence formalities in Belgium should anticipate appointment backlogs once offices reopen.
On the financial side, travel-risk consultancy TMG estimates that each lost travel day on the Paris-Brussels corridor costs multinationals roughly €4 million in deferred deals and staff overtime. The strike also revives debate over the absence of an EU-wide “minimum air-traffic-overflight” service during national work stoppages—a point long championed by Franco-Irish carrier Ryanair after repeated French ATC strikes.
Should negotiations fail, the unions hint at rolling 24-hour actions in December. French mobility teams are therefore advised to map critical projects that hinge on Belgium-based talent and ensure they have alternative routing via Luxembourg or direct Paris-Amsterdam Thalys services, which bypass Brussels.
The Belgian rail operator SNCB will run only a “minimum service”, while infrastructure manager Infrabel warns that maintenance crews will also walk out. Eurostar has already flagged that only half of its Brussels-Paris trains and a fifth of its Brussels-Germany services are expected to operate, with knock-on effects possible for London-Paris services that rely on the same rolling stock rotations.
At Brussels-Zaventem airport, unions representing security screeners and ground-handling staff have filed notices, prompting airlines—including Air France-KLM and easyJet—to pre-emptively cancel or consolidate flights. Road hauliers face clogged motorway corridors as public-sector bus drivers join picket lines, squeezing the E19 and A1 corridors that funnel lorry traffic between Paris and Antwerp.
French businesses with Belgian subsidiaries—or with staff commuting from Lille, Valenciennes or Maubeuge into Wallonia—should expect severe disruptions. Mobility managers are advising remote work where possible and urging travellers to keep hotel rooms on both sides of the frontier in case last-minute overnights become unavoidable. Companies whose posted workers require time-sensitive residence formalities in Belgium should anticipate appointment backlogs once offices reopen.
On the financial side, travel-risk consultancy TMG estimates that each lost travel day on the Paris-Brussels corridor costs multinationals roughly €4 million in deferred deals and staff overtime. The strike also revives debate over the absence of an EU-wide “minimum air-traffic-overflight” service during national work stoppages—a point long championed by Franco-Irish carrier Ryanair after repeated French ATC strikes.
Should negotiations fail, the unions hint at rolling 24-hour actions in December. French mobility teams are therefore advised to map critical projects that hinge on Belgium-based talent and ensure they have alternative routing via Luxembourg or direct Paris-Amsterdam Thalys services, which bypass Brussels.
