Thousands of pharmacy employees throughout the Netherlands will stop work again on Thursday 9 and Friday 10 January. After months of actions and protests, no agreements have yet been made on higher wages and lower work pressure in pharmacies.
“There is still no better collective labor agreement, so we have no choice but to take action again,” say collective labor agreement negotiators Ralph Smeets (FNV) and Albert Spieseke (CNV). “The employees’ patience has run out. Their message is loud and clear: Give us what we are entitled to, because we will not be defeated. If an agreement is not reached quickly, national strikes will continue.”
Pharmacist Stephan Bontekoning from De Vaart pharmacy in New Amsterdam and board member of the Drenthe Pharmacists Cooperative (DAC) is disappointed with the newly announced strikes. “I support my employees in their demand for a higher wage. At the same time, I think it is a shame that the FNV, despite the commitments made in December, feels forced to strike again. In this case, this means that the pharmacies close.”
Action has been taking place in the pharmacy sector since September last year. Despite months of strikes, unions and employers have not come any closer to each other, the unions report. According to these organizations, employers still do not want to go further than a wage increase of two percent. The collective labor agreement negotiators call the pharmacists’ attitude “bizarre.” “They apparently still don’t see that their staff is really serious.”
FNV and CNV are demanding a six percent wage increase with retroactive effect from July 1, 2024, plus an end-of-year bonus of two percent. In 2025, wages must also increase by a similar percentage. In addition, the unions want all hours worked to be paid. This means that short preparation moments, such as fifteen minutes before opening, also have to be paid for.
In December, the judge banned a strike by pharmacy workers. This promotion around the Christmas period would last three days, meaning that pharmacies would be closed for nine days in a row due to weekends and holidays. Bontekoning was against the strike at the time: “People then had no access to pharmaceuticals for nine days.” Although he is not in favor of the new actions, he sees fewer problems. “Now it concerns a closure of four days, say a long weekend. As a result, I think the health of the Drent is less at risk.”
“If the employers thought that they could put an end to the actions of their staff with that lawsuit, then that was a wrong assessment,” say trade unionists Smeets and Spieseke. “They have previously achieved the opposite. The willingness to take action is greater than ever.”
Emergency care remains guaranteed during the national strike. This means that patients can always receive medication in an emergency, but they may have to go to another pharmacy.
“If you cannot go to your own pharmacy, they can refer you to another pharmacy,” Bontekoning says. But he advises people who need planned care to collect their medicines no later than next Wednesday. “We are working hard to ensure that the residents of Drenthe do not suffer from this. That will be difficult, but we are doing our best.”
The pharmacist hopes that the negotiating parties will reach an agreement quickly. “I would have liked to have wished them that wisdom in September. Ultimately, these negotiations have to take place at the negotiating table.”