Employees of social work companies in Drenthe will take the bus to Utrecht tomorrow to campaign for a better collective labor agreement. They demand more than 10 percent more wages. An earlier relay strike at Emco in Emmen and Coevorden, among others, has yielded nothing.
From Drenthe, Stark employees go to the national campaign. Stark is the apprenticeship company of the municipalities of Hoogeveen, Midden-Drenthe and De Wolden.
According to the trade unions FNV and CNV, more and more employees with an occupational disability are struggling to keep their heads above water. Minimum wages have received a 10 percent wage increase, but that does not apply to those who earn just a little more.
“It’s too crazy for words,” says FNV executive Robert Kroezen. “The Association of Dutch Municipalities is about our collective labor agreement, and has been saying for a year that there is no money for a pay rise. While their own civil servants received a bonus and a pay rise at Christmas.” The unions are also demanding an increase in the travel allowance from 10 to 21 cents per kilometre.
That is why the unions are holding a national action. About 160 buses are expected, which will bring eight thousand activists to Utrecht. The Drenthe delegation enters Hoogeveen.
Kroezen is certain: according to him, the unions have justified demands. “People have to choose between a plate of food on the table or a tank of petrol to get to work. Fortunately, employers are doing something to combat poverty, but the collective labor agreement is stuck.”
In response to the announced action, the VNG says that the municipalities support the desire for higher wages. “In contrast to municipal officials, employees of social work companies are paid from money that the municipalities receive from the government,” says a VNG spokesperson. “We have urged Minister Carola Schouten for Participation to make more money available.”