1/3 King Willem-Alexander on a working visit to Moerdijk.
Well prepared and listening patiently, King Willem-Alexander was informed on Wednesday in Moerdijk about the advantages and disadvantages of the many migrant workers in that municipality. Together with Minister Karien van Gennip, he also spoke to many foreign employees, who sometimes shared shocking experiences that they still experience at rogue employment agencies.
Like a young Bulgarian who has only been working in Moerdijk for a few months. He fell down the stairs and has his hand in bandages. That’s why he can’t work. He only receives one week’s wages from the employment agency. After that nothing anymore because it doesn’t work.
Both the king and the minister frown. “That is against the law,” the minister tells the Bulgarian. But he is stuck and accepts that. The employment agency not only arranged his work, but also his accommodation. If he starts being difficult, he will soon be on the street, literally and figuratively.
“They also have the right to decent working conditions and a nice house to live in.”
Karien van Gennip advises the Bulgarian to join a trade union that can stand up for him. “After almost two years as minister, I see that we in the Netherlands still often do not deal with migrant workers in the right way. They are people like you and me, who are also entitled to decent working conditions and a nice house to live in.”
The king also visits the company DSV Solutions on the Moerdijk industrial estate, which is happy that around 200 Poles, Romanians and Bulgarians are filling their vacancies. And that is why the company finds it all the more important that its migrant workers have good and comfortable accommodation in the area.
“The quality of life here is under pressure, also for the foreign workers who come to live here.”
But that’s where the shoe pinches. Because not everyone in Moerdijk is happy with the estimated 4,600 foreign employees in Moerdijk. The municipality has designated five places where hotels for more than a thousand additional migrant workers should be located. Three of them are located around Moerdijk Dorp.
In the Ankerkuil community center, the king speaks with villagers who have united in the Moerdijk Village Table. Raoul Nuijten emphasizes on their behalf that they have nothing against migrant workers in the village. But according to him, three hotels with 1,000 foreigners are a lot for 1,150 inhabitants.
“We are increasingly encapsulated here by a new logistics park, the expansion of the seaport, a rail terminal and more and more migrant workers,” says Nuijten. “The quality of life here is under pressure, also for the foreign workers who come to live here.”
The Village Table would therefore prefer to see migrant workers housed more widely throughout the municipality of Moerdijk. But councilor Danny Dingemans tells the king that commitments have already been made to project developers, which cannot simply be reversed due to a lack of support among the residents of the village.
“This theme plays a role throughout the Netherlands and it is important that it is properly on the agenda.”
After almost three hours, the king’s working visit to Moerdijk ends. “It is very good that I understand what is going on here. Together with the minister. We will also take this with us to The Hague. This theme is happening throughout the Netherlands and it is important that it is properly on the agenda,” said the king.
After the king has left, there is particular admiration for how committed and well informed he was. Raoul Nuijten: “I think that the king and minister will certainly bring things back to The Hague. Because we are really trying to integrate all developments together properly. We would also like to see the migrant workers come here, but we do not want Moerdijk Dorp to be further developed. the pinch is coming. So king, please help us!”
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