Belgian employees of the Danish shipping and logistics company A.P. Møller-Maersk will stop work on Thursday morning in protest at the company’s plan to end existing global home-working arrangements from 1 January 2027.
About 100 people work at the company’s offices on Roderveldlaan and Noorderlaan in Antwerp.
Joost Lestabel, a union representative for the socialist white-collar union BBTK, said he expects almost all office staff to join the strike on Wednesday.
“The staff were willing to compromise, but five days is too much,” Lestabel said. “Unfortunately, management in Antwerp does not share that view, even though the local management is usually an ally in this kind of issue.”
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Employees say a return to commuting five days a week is unacceptable, particularly given Antwerp’s chronic traffic congestion.
After the pandemic, Belgian employees at the Danish group were allowed to work from home for up to three days a week.
That system is due to be overhauled from next year under a measure that applies not only in Belgium but across all Maersk offices worldwide.
