Four of the five ferry services across the Maas will return to a normal timetable from Thursday. A labor dispute that lasted for months between skippers and employer Stichting de Maasveren has come to an end for the time being by the appointment of a mediator. “We have agreed that pending the mediation attempt, we will sail again,” says Jan van Loon of Stichting de Maasveren.
Due to a labor dispute between the ferry operators and their employer Stichting de Maasveren, ferries sometimes did not run in recent weeks, sometimes they did and passengers were sometimes transferred for free. For the time being, the actions have been suspended due to the appointment of a mediator. “It came at the insistence of the municipalities where the ferry services operate,” says Jan van Loon. “His mission is to bring the parties that are right against each other back together.”
“The actions caused a lot of inconvenience to passengers in the region, which was unacceptable,” says Van Loon. “I had no problem with the fact that passengers were also transferred for free as a means of action. Then you will hit the foundation financially, but the passengers will not be harmed. The passengers should never have been the victims of this.”
The passengers have made themselves heard on Facebook in recent months and weeks. Announcements by boatmen and the foundation on Facebook that an action would be taken, invariably resulted in a torrent of negative reactions. However, there were also supportive responses.
The fact that not all five ferry services will resume their timetable is due to an extremely high absenteeism rate. “Alphen-Oijen will remain out of service because we have insufficient staff due to absenteeism,” says Jan van Loon. “We have an absenteeism rate of 30 percent, which means that ten out of thirty skippers cannot sail. On the one hand, sickness absence is so high due to corona and on the other hand, skippers are also burdened by the conflict. day comments on the actions.”
The news that Alphen-Oijen is not sailing for the time being, again evokes negative reactions. “Dear people, this is really not possible. You cannot let children of 12 years, who cycle through all kinds of weather, become the victims of a labor dispute,” Lieke responds on the Facebook page of the foundation. “I understand”, is the reaction of an excited Jan van Loon.