Strike notice filed at Brussels Airport cleaning contractor Alyzia

Industrial relations at Brussels Airport took a turn for the worse on 7 July 2026 when Christian trade-union CSC/ACV Voeding-Diensten filed an official strike notice against Alyzia, the subcontractor that cleans aircraft on the Zaventem apron. The immediate trigger was the summary dismissal of a worker who had just been elected as a staff representative, a move the union describes as an open attack on freedom of association. Alyzia’s works council was reportedly informed only after the fact, and the case has now been referred to the federal labour inspection service. Beyond the individual dismissal, CSC lists chronic safety and staffing problems: inadequate ventilation in cabins where powerful chemicals are used, chronic equipment shortages, and shift patterns that regularly exceed the legal maximum. The union says it has been raising these issues for months without result and therefore no longer guarantees social peace. A strike could hit the height of Belgium’s summer travel season. Alyzia cleans for several legacy and low-cost carriers; if its crews walk out, aircraft turnaround times would lengthen and Brussels Airport would be forced to re-assign scarce ground-handling staff or delay departures. The airport authority told local press it has not yet seen operational disruption but is “monitoring the situation closely” and liaising with contingency handlers.



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For employers rotating staff through Brussels or relying on tight connection times, the dispute is a reminder to build buffer time into itineraries and to keep travellers informed via duty-of-care platforms. International assignees with weekend leisure plans should also check airline notifications, as any strike must be announced 48 hours in advance but may still coincide with heavy Friday traffic. From a compliance angle, prolonged industrial action at third-party service providers can also lengthen the queues at border control kiosks, potentially complicating the first-time biometric registration that non-EU travellers now face under the new Entry/Exit System (EES). Mobility managers should therefore watch this case, both for immediate travel disruption and for the broader labour-relations climate among airport subcontractors in Belgium.