Previous protests carried out by farmers and construction workers will pale in comparison to the one scheduled to take place on Wednesday, December 18. At least, that is the goal according to Farmers Defence Force (FDF).
Right now it is unclear as to where the farmers will strike and what they are planning on doing exactly. What we do know is that, according to FDF, there are plenty of people wanting to join in and that the strike could possibly end up lasting a number of days.
This time around, FDF is working together with construction workers from the group Stichting Bouw in Verzet. Both groups have major criticism when it comes to the government’s nitrogen policy. The big question is, of course, will the farmers be blocking the supermarket distribution centres to mess with the food supply? Unfortunately, the answer is not yet known.
The spots for the strike will only be announced on the day of the strike itself, but these will apparently be all across the Netherlands. In order to avoid miscommunication and chaos, the FDF won’t say anything else regarding the details of the strike.
The strike may be spirited, but it will stay legal. Alcohol use and anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated. The FDF’s goal is two-fold; they want both “structural improvement in revenue model of the agricultural sector, as well as to bring the government’s nitrogen policy back to normal proportions.”
The coming Monday, another discussion will be held between the agricultural cooperative Landbouw Collectief (which FDF also falls under), Agricultural Minister Carola Schouten and Prime Minister Mark Rutte, regarding the measures to tackle nitrogen emissions. This meeting does not affect the strike, which will still go ahead.
N.B. When we talk about nitrogen emissions, we mean nitrous oxide and ammonia which are harmful to the environment, not the nitrogen which makes up more than 78 percent of the atmosphere.