Police leave nightclubs alone on Saturday, nothing stands in the way of huge catering action | Economy

Officers turn a blind eye for the entire weekend because the cabinet does not want to meet their demands for the new police collective labor agreement, the four police unions report to this site. They are disappointed with the outcome of last Friday’s talks with a government delegation. No promises were made in it about spearheads such as the income of police officers and the capacity of the police forces.

By not taking active action during the much-discussed ‘reopening of the night’, the police unions are sending a clear signal to the cabinet, which was counting on enforcement by the police. “We will call on municipal boas to declare their solidarity with the protesting police employees”, project leader Maarten Brink of the National Action Center (LAC) said. In this way, Dutch visitors and operators of catering establishments do not have to fear a fine or closure.

The action is not a license to cause trouble, the unions emphasize. Every agent still has the power to fine if he sees reason to do so. ‘As far as the unions are concerned, police officers are mainly engaged this weekend with primary police tasks such as emergency aid and services to citizens. In the event of calamities that take place in catering establishments, they are therefore expected to act’, can be read in a joint statement by the police unions ACP, ANPV, Equipe and NPB.

In the run-up to the collective labor agreement negotiations, the unions already started major actions in December to protest against the high workload and understaffing. “The aim of these actions was to make it clear to politicians and citizens how urgent the capacity problems at the police are,” the unions report. ‘Unfortunately, the message of these actions did not get across clearly enough. Apparently, The Hague is counting on police officers to go to great lengths out of loyalty and a sense of duty to maintain the quality of police work as much as possible. And they do so, although it is becoming increasingly difficult for them and at the expense of their health, safety and private life.’

Tens of thousands of Dutch people are expected to put the flowers out again next weekend. All tickets for Amsterdam clubs that participate in ‘The night is up’ are now sold out. There were 15,000 tickets available. Music venues in other cities in the country are also joining. For example, 013 in Tilburg, Patronaat in Haarlem, Fluor in Amersfoort, De Helling in Utrecht and Annabel in Rotterdam have indicated that they will open on Saturday. Thousands of tickets sold in those cities at lightning speed.

The sector organization Nachtbelang and the Overleg Amsterdamse Clubs (OAC) previously stated that they were fed up with the fact that the government’s plans to reopen society did not include nightlife. According to the current rules, the catering industry must close its doors at 10 p.m. and a seat is mandatory for visitors.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Economic Affairs said that Minister Micky Adriaansens listened especially carefully to the entrepreneurs during the consultation with the night catering industry and heard what they encounter. “They have put forward ideas on how they envision a responsible opening. It mainly concerned matters such as ventilation, capacity, door policy.”