A unique event in the history of the paint factory. That is what Leen van Mever calls the strike of PPG Coatings personnel in Uithoorn. He and his colleagues do not want 7 percent, but 14.3 percent wages, in order to at least come close to compensation for the huge price increases of the past year. “But they don’t give home, that’s very bitter.”
Van Mever has been working for almost thirty years for the coating company on the Amsterdamseweg, which has traditionally specialized in coatings for houses. After several mergers and acquisitions, the factory came into the hands of the American PPG Industries, he says. “In Europe, they were especially big in paint for cars. So this fit in nicely.”
For those who are not yet experts in the industry: PPG Industries sells paint in the Netherlands under the names Histor, Sigma and Rambo and is the world’s largest player in the industry. And that, according to Van Mever, is the crux: because of the increase in scale, the human dimension has disappeared, he complains. “This is the first time that we have come this far, that feels very special.”
Van Mever also notices this in his wallet, but as an FNV executive he is mainly concerned about the purchasing power of the ‘bottom of the wage structure’. “It’s about solidarity,” he says.
Home handymen
That solidarity is hard to find at the management, he thinks. “They made a lot of profit in corona times,” he refers to the rising demand for paint by all home handymen during that period. The staff therefore sees too little of this, according to the trade union FNV, which supports the two-day strike. “But they do pay out a 12 percent dividend. You expect more feeling.”
Although no continuous processes are running in the factory in Uithoorn, the company will certainly notice the impact of the strike, Van Mever guarantees. “More than half of the colleagues are also on strike in crucial processes, so tankers cannot be unloaded either and quality control will also notice it.”
Ball at management
In addition to Uithoorn, PPG also has production locations in Tiel and Amsterdam. “The strike kicked off in Tiel yesterday,” says FNV director Erik de Vries. “Today Uithoorn has taken over the baton.” He emphasizes that the ball is in the management’s court. “When they call, we quickly sit down at the table to talk.”
There will also be a strike in Uithoorn tomorrow. If the management does not call, the union promises the paint giant more strike days. “Then things will also happen in Amsterdam next week.”