On May 28, a major 24-hour transport strike will be carried out across the Netherlands. Previously, this would have only affected NS trains and public transport in the cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague. However, now regional transport providers have decided to join in.

No buses or trains running in the Netherlands

On the day of the strike, the only places you’ll find public transport running will be Utrecht (Keolis en Qbuzz), the Veluwe (Keolis), the Achterhoek and Rivierenland (Arriva) and Lelystad and the surrounding area (Connexxion). Apart from these few places, transport companies will be on strike for the entirety of the day in the rest of the country.

On May 29, another strike will take place, involving other sectors such as construction and metal work.

Demands for a good pension

The strike is being carried out for a better pension and in order to realise this, the unions have three demands. They want retirement age to be frozen at 66 and the fine for stopping earlier to be scrapped. Additionally, the unions want pension indexation, meaning pensions rise in line with inflation.

Should there be any negative consequences in moving to a new pension system, the unions want these covered and they also want it to be possible for everyone to be able to build up a pension. Freelancers and those on temporary contracts should be able to build up a pension too.