Dutch trade unions, the Netherlands Trade Union Confederation (FNV) and Christian National Trade Union (CNV), have announced that during the second week of September, there will be nationwide public transport strikes. This includes strikes affecting the Dutch rail operator NS, urban transport and regional transport.
On Tuesday, September 10, a strike-filled week will begin with worker walkouts in city transport, including GVB in Amsterdam, HTM in The Hague and RET in Rotterdam. However, public transport will really come to a halt for morning travellers the following day.
Both NS and regional transport staff will stop working from 4am to 8am on September 11. Public transport timetables will be suspended during this time for transport companies such as Arriva, Transdev, Keolis, EBS and Qbuzz. The regional transport strikes were initially planned for September 12, but were moved a day earlier. According to a FNV spokesperson, this is because it has more impact if the strike is held together with NS workers.
More strikes are not off the table either, with the unions saying that this is a final warning. “If the government does not come up with a structural solution soon, the actions will only become more intense,” said Marijn van der Gaag, director at FNV Streekvervoer in a press release “The employees are ready to claim their rights and they will not hesitate to take action.”
The Dutch trade unions are demanding that the government makes plans to extend the early retirement scheme (RVU) that allows employees who perform heavy work to retire three years earlier. A temporary relaxation of the RVU levy for companies has been enforced since the beginning of 2021, but is set to end next year.
“We are fed up with the fact that the government is still not responding,” said Van der Gaag. “The fact that the politicians want to scrap this arrangement is a slap in the face of thousands of hard-working Dutch people.”
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