Staff in regional transport will go back to work on Wednesday and Friday. According to Marijn van der Gaag, director of FNV Regional Transport, this is the start of a new series of strikes. “The limit has been reached for people in regional transport.”
“The work pressure is too high due to the irregular schedules and tight journey times. If nothing changes, it will be very bad for the future of public transport,” says Van der Gaag.
Two weeks ago, regional transport stopped work for five days. The aim of the employees is to enforce a new collective labor agreement with wages that increase in line with inflation. In addition, they would also like to see measures to reduce the high workload. “Due to a shortage of personnel, the workload is sky-high. One in five drivers is sick and that creates even more workload,” according to the FNV.
The FNV demands a wage increase of 16.9 percent for a one-year collective labor agreement, the CNV demands 14 percent over a period of eighteen months. Fred Kagie, chairman of the Association of Public Transport Employers (VWOV) indicates that this money is not there and submits a wage offer of eight percent for a year. According to employers, margins in public transport are small and many companies have been losing money since corona.