Maersk Antwerp Workers Strike Over End of Telework

Employees at the Antwerp offices of Danish shipping and logistics giant A.P. Moller-Maersk walked off the job on the morning of Thursday, 1 October 2026, in protest against the company’s worldwide decision to abolish telework. According to VRT NWS, the action was concentrated at the company’s two Antwerp sites and is being led by the socialist white-collar union BBTK, part of the ABVV.

Context: A Benefit Scrapped Worldwide

Belgian employees of Maersk have been allowed to work from home since 2016 and currently may telework up to three days a week. From 1 January 2027, however, the company’s Copenhagen headquarters will withdraw the arrangement across all its offices globally. Around 100 people work at each of Maersk’s two Antwerp locations — one on the Roderveldlaan in Berchem and one on the Noorderlaan — alongside a warehouse in Willebroek employing roughly 30 staff. HLN reported that union representative Joost Lestabel expected near-total participation by white-collar staff.

The dispute lands against a backdrop of tightening telework policies across Belgium. A March 2026 survey by HR services provider Acerta found that 16.6 percent of Belgian companies now expect staff on site at least four days a week, up from 11 percent a year earlier, as VRT NWS reported. The share of firms fixing mandatory office days rose from 8.2 percent to 13.4 percent in a single year. Yet nine in ten companies still permit telework, and a majority remain satisfied with the current balance — a detail that sharpens the contrast with Maersk’s blanket abolition.

Traffic and Trust at the Heart of the Dispute

For the Antwerp staff, the decision collides with the realities of one of Europe’s most congested port cities. “There are people who have to commute more than an hour,” Lestabel told VRT NWS. “If they now have to come to the office every day and can no longer work from home three days a week, they will spend six extra hours in the car. There are already people saying they will look for other work.”

Workers say they could accept a restriction of telework, but not its complete removal. They also dispute management’s reasoning. “Moreover, we have never heard a real reason or justification for scaling back telework,” Lestabel said. “Then they fob us off with vague terms like togetherness or absorbing AI.” Because Maersk teams already meet digitally with colleagues in countries such as Germany and Poland, the union argues it makes no difference whether those meetings happen at home or in the office.

What has struck a particular nerve is management’s reported acceptance that some staff may leave once the measure takes effect — those employees, in the company’s framing, lack the right “Maersk-DNA.” Lestabel said the remark “touched a very sensitive chord,” stressing that Antwerp staff are highly productive and that the language showed “how little understanding there is for the legitimate concerns of staff.” The union also says the local Antwerp management has declined to negotiate, with the last consultation between the union delegation and the employer taking place on 15 July 2026.

Maersk’s headquarters in Denmark said it is “aware that there is a strike,” is preparing for it and respects the workers’ right to strike, but gave no further information and did not clarify whether it plans to consult the union.

Limited Impact on the Port So Far

The union anticipated significant disruption in the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, particularly in the processing of container documents. Port of Antwerp-Bruges stated, however, that at the time there was no disruption or that it remained very limited.

The action at Maersk is notable precisely because such strikes are uncommon among white-collar logistics staff. “That is fairly unique, because nobody likes to strike,” Lestabel said. “It always involves loss of wages. Moreover, people are very loyal to their company and their clients.” He framed telework not as a perk but as an established right: “At Maersk, telework is not a favour, but an acquired right that has proven itself over the years. It contributes to an efficient organisation, less stress and a better work-life balance.”

The strike fits into a broader period of labour unrest in Belgium in 2025 and 2026, spanning disputes over the index, pensions and social security — campaigns that dominate the BBTK Antwerp union’s recent activity.

What’s Next

Further action is planned for Tuesday, 13 October at Maersk Customs on the Noorderlaan, and more could follow. The key question now is whether Maersk’s Copenhagen headquarters will open talks with the union — something it has so far declined to confirm. With the worldwide abolition set to take effect on 1 January 2027, Antwerp staff and their employer are locked in a standoff that tests how far a global corporate policy can be applied uniformly across very different local labour markets.