Two major Dutch trade unions have warned that public transport in The Hague will be affected by a major strike on June 2.
Employees of the public transport company HTM - which operates trams, metros, and buses in The Hague and the surrounding areas - will be staging a walkout on June 2 as part of an ongoing dispute over workers' contracts.
The Netherlands Trade Union Confederation (FNV) and the Christian National Trade Union (CNV) are attempting to secure a more favourable collective labour agreement for HTM employees, calling for wages to be increased by 5 percent and for working conditions to be improved.
At the end of May, HTM committed to a wage increase of 3,1 percent in 2022 - but CNV and FNV say this isn’t enough. “This employer does not take its employees seriously,” says Sanne van der Meulen, a negotiator at CNV.
The public transport operator has more than 2.000 employees in The Hague, transporting approximately 325.000 passengers across 13 tram lines and 10 bus routes every day. HTM estimates that a one-day strike would cost the company around 250.000 euros.
A spokesperson for HTM has explained that the company “deeply regrets” the strike. “Travellers are the victims of this. We have gone through the coronavirus pandemic, we need all the travellers - we want to win them back and we depend on them for income,” they explained.