When regional bus 190 between Gouda and Rotterdam Alexander has just passed a small village on the banks of the Hollandsche IJssel on Tuesday afternoon, consternation arises in the back of the bus. “From Wednesday, the bus drivers will be on strike for three days,” a woman informs her neighbor. “Three days?” the neighbor says, frighteningly reaching for her phone to open her travel information app. ‘I don’t have a car or bicycle, how am I supposed to get to my destination?’
‘Not’, is the simple answer of Bart Scheer (21) when he is asked the same question at the bus station in Gouda. He lives with his parents in Bergambacht, a village on the Lek without a train station. Four times a week he takes the bus to Gouda, from there to travel by train to the Shipping and Transport College in Rotterdam, where he studies. ‘So tomorrow I will study from home, because cycling 13 kilometers is impossible.’
Regional bus transport will partly come to a standstill from Wednesday due to a strike by the FNV trade union. The union finds the workload for bus drivers and the effects of inflation so urgent at the moment that, despite the current collective labor agreement, it calls on its members to put the bus aside. In total, approximately 13 thousand employees are covered by the collective labor agreement for public transport, about half of whom are members of FNV. If they all go on strike, 70 to 80 percent of the journeys will be canceled in the coming days, according to the union.
Workload regional bus drivers
It will only become clear on Wednesday how many bus drivers will stop working in the coming days and which routes will be canceled. In Gouda, bus passengers are already thinking about alternative transport. Houda Taejdi (32) and Yamina Mejalad (60) take the train for once to get to work. Thijn Hulscher (18) will bridge the distance between his hometown of Moordrecht and Gouda by bicycle in the coming days.
A new collective labor agreement for public transport personnel came into effect in June, after only members of the trade union CNV had agreed to the employers’ final offer. Then a wage increase of 2.8 percent and a cessation scheme were agreed, but the agreements to do something about the work pressure were postponed. The current collective labor agreements run until the end of this year.
The workload of regional bus drivers has been a concern for those involved for some time. In 2018 there was also a strike for the same purpose. ‘We are back to square one’, says FNV director Marijn van der Veel. She argues for a wage increase, which can be used to attract new staff, and measures to spare older employees in particular.
The FNV wants the current collective labor agreement agreements to be broken open or the requirements to be laid down in the new collective labor agreement, which must take effect in January. The talks about the new collective labor agreement are currently on hold due to the strikes.
Feast to watch passers-by
Hans Meijer (78) watches the embarkation and disembarkation of the travelers in Gouda at his leisure. Since he broke his ankle four years ago, he no longer dares to cycle. That’s why he made the bus his hobby. Every day – except on weekends – the former PTT employee travels by bus from his hometown of Reeuwijk to a random place within the zone that he can reach with his public transport subscription.
Now the bus enthusiast is sitting on a bench in the sun thinking about where he will go today. “Why should you stay at home?” he says. “It’s a joy to watch passers-by.” Meijer is hopeful that the bus will also take him to a place where he can people watch in the coming days.
‘The willingness to strike in Gouda is low,’ says bus driver Pieter Visser (40), who is smoking a cigarette between trips. ‘I think that about 6 of the 28 Arriva drivers here will heed the call from FNV tomorrow.’ Visser, who is a CNV member himself, thinks the strikes are ‘flat bullshit’. His own trade union CNV also recognizes the problem of work pressure, but previously agreed to the current collective labor agreement and is therefore not on strike. Visser therefore has little understanding for the FNV campaign: ‘It is better to sit down and settle this in the new collective labor agreement, rather than moan.’
Lucas Baaiman (21) understands that the bus drivers are going on strike. He briefly considered borrowing a scooter from a friend this week so he wouldn’t have to miss his first year of jewelry training, but that seemed too much of a hassle. Online teaching has renounced its training after corona, so Baaiman will soon be three days behind. Bale, he thinks. And the fact that he misses six bus rides is also annoying: ‘You get to know classmates better if you catch up on the bus every morning and afternoon.’