“Refuse to come to Tel Aviv”: the employees at the airline went on strike

According to reports abroad, the Belgian trade union ACV Puls this morning filed an official strike notice against the airline “Brussels Airlines”, following the company’s decision to require aircrew members to fly on the line to Tel Aviv. The trade union accuses that the forced assignment violates previous agreements signed with the company’s management, according to which activity on the Israel route will be based on volunteers only, and exposes the crews to serious physical and ethical risks.

The strike notice went into effect as of the morning of September 1, and paves the way for targeted organizational measures to be taken if the Belgian airline does not withdraw from the decision. According to the union’s position, the forced placement of workers under the current circumstances is in direct contradiction to the employer’s responsibility to protect the safety and health of his workers. At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belgium continues to advise its citizens to avoid any non-essential travel to Israel and the Jerusalem area due to the sensitive security situation.

“There are serious concerns among the crew, both regarding the physical safety and the mental and possible impact of these flights,” says Yolinda Defio, a representative of the ACV Puls union. “However, Brussels Airlines refuses to give employees the option to refuse these assignments. This is particularly serious in the context of the ongoing war and genocide in Gaza.”

Dafio emphasizes that a commercial airline cannot ignore the country’s official safety guidelines. “If the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommends avoiding non-essential travel, Brussels Airlines cannot pretend that Tel Aviv is a normal destination for everything,” she adds.

The friction between the management and the workers on the line to Tel Aviv is not new and escalated in 2025. The workers’ representation stated that when the flights were operated in the past, Brussels Airlines offered financial grants and bonuses to attract volunteers to perform them. Now that there is not a sufficient number of volunteers for the planned flight schedule, the company has decided to switch to a mandatory placement format instead of continuing to rely on voluntary registration.

“A lack of volunteers does not give a free hand to coerce workers,” it was stated in the union’s announcement, which demanded that any crew member with serious safety or conscientious objections be given the right to refuse these flights without financial, professional or disciplinary consequences. At the same time, the union calls on the Belgian government to establish a clear position regarding commercial flights to conflict zones and regarding the protection of the crew members involved. The trade union clarified that the potential work disruptions will be targeted and will not extend to other targets. “Any disruption will be limited only to round-trip flights to Tel Aviv. ACV Puls will protect any employee who does not wish to fly to a war zone,” concluded his pages.

On the other hand, Brussels Airlines responded to the claims and emphasized that the safety procedures are fully observed. “Brussels Airlines resumed operations to Tel Aviv this summer. During the first weeks, these flights were operated by volunteers. Now that the flights have been successfully resumed, we can return to the normal procedure for assembling the flight schedules,” the airline said. “Together with the other airlines in the Lufthansa group, we continue to closely monitor the situation on the ground and are ready to adjust the procedures at any time if required.”

Despite the calming messages from the company’s management, the workers’ union expresses great skepticism about the security situation assessments. ACV Puls mentioned that during a previous wave of return to activity, a missile fell on the territory of Ben-Gurion Airport shortly before the scheduled departure time of a flight, and present this case as evidence of the real danger hovering over the air crews.