Employees of car dealers, garage owners and bicycle companies in Drenthe, Groningen and Friesland are settling down today and tomorrow. FNV and CNV report this. They do not agree with the collective labor agreement of the BOVAG sector organization.
FNV demands a wage increase of 7 percent and a collective labor agreement of one year, while CNV is aiming for 6 percent more salary. BOVAG only remains with its range of a wage increase of 3.5 percent over a period of eighteen months. That means an annual increase of 2.3 percent, which, according to the trade unions, is not in line with inflation and purchasing power.
Earlier this year, employees of car and bicycle companies were already on the TT Circuit in Assen for better working conditions. Trade unions only announced the strike on Saturday, making it unclear how many people in Drenthe are participating. According to CNV, many companies in the region are understaffed today and Tuesday, which can lead to longer waiting times for, for example, the MOT or bicycle repairs.
Bovag thinks it is “a pity” that the strikes continue, but respects the right to strike, says a spokesperson. The organization indicates that it would like to talk to the trade unions again to arrive at a collective agreement agreement.
FNV negotiator Murat Sekercan emphasizes that the trade unions have not received any serious proposals from BOVAG. He states that the pain point is mainly with the wage increase. “The demand for professionals such as engineers and bicycle makers is increasing, but there is a screaming shortage of staff. More than 50 percent of BOVAG companies say they have enormous staff shortages,” said Sekercan.
If there is no agreement after the strikes, according to Sekercan, there are more actions in the planning, both in Drenthe and in the rest of the country. “People continue until there is a good result.” Sekercan adds: “The BOVAG may want to ‘drink coffee’ again, but I will only drink coffee when they take money with them.”
In Drenthe, the consequences of the strike can be great, especially at smaller branches of car and bicycle companies. “In Drenthe I expect that seventy to eighty, or even more branches will get into trouble because employees strike en masse to make their voices heard,” says Sekercan.
With the strikes, BOVAG is hoped to put pressure on to do a CAO offer that “does justice to the high workload and inflation”.