Dutch government services to be disrupted by strike on March 3

Trade union FNV has warned that many government services across the Netherlands will be disrupted on Tuesday, March 3, due to a strike by civil servants.  

Civil servants across the Netherlands to strike

Government workers in the Netherlands are striking for 24 hours on March 3. This means that many government services will be “difficult or impossible to reach” for a day, according to FNV.

For example, the Education Executive Agency (DUO), responsible for student finance, among other duties, will close its call centre on Tuesday, and appointments to file tax returns at the Tax and Customs Administration support centre may be rescheduled. The full extent of the strike and which agencies it will affect is not yet known, reports NOS.

There are over 165.000 civil servants in the Netherlands, the majority of whom work at agencies such as DUO, Public Works and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat), Immigration and Naturalisation Services (IND) and Tax and Customs Administration.

Why are Dutch government workers striking?

More than 1.000 workers will gather in The Hague to protest the zero-line wage system, which dictates that civil servants will receive no salary increases or inflation adjustments for 2026, reducing their purchasing power. Government workers have not received a structural pay rise since 2024.

"Civil servants are the people who keep the Netherlands running every day. They ensure safe roads, guard our prisons, control our borders, and ensure that benefits, allowances, and permits are processed,” said FNV board member Marcelle Buitendam. “And what do they get from this government? They're completely indebted."

Even though these agencies are facing high workloads and staff shortages, they do not receive “appreciation” and are instead “subjected to a pay freeze, making it even more difficult to recruit and retain colleagues”. The Dutch union believes the zero-line system undermines not only the income of the workers but also the quality of public services.

There have been several strikes among government agencies already this year. Slaughterhouses in the east remain closed, customs workers at Schiphol Airport protested in February and staff at Dutch prisons and detention centres have also taken action.