Bus drivers in regional transport will go on strike for three full days from Wednesday. They demand, among other things, a wage increase of 10 percent and a lower workload. In Rotterdam the bus drivers join the strike and only the tram runs. In Utrecht, it is precisely the tram drivers who stop work. The buses of the local transport companies will only continue to run in Amsterdam, The Hague and Utrecht.
Trains in Groningen and Limburg can also break down if drivers covered by the collective labor agreement for public transport join the actions of the FNV. ‘It is a strong signal, but the employers leave us no other choice,’ says Marijn van der Gaag, director of the trade union FNV. ‘The sector is ill, partly due to the staff shortage, the workload is too high and absenteeism is only increasing.’
FNV considers 1,000 euros a tip
The FNV rejects the agreement that the Association of Public Transport Employers (VWOV) concluded on Friday with the trade union CNV. That agreement provides for a one-off payment to the drivers of 1,000 euros in November. Van der Gaag: ‘A tip to buy off the problems. Our employees pay 15 percent more for their groceries, the loss of purchasing power has to be repaired.’
Fred Kagie, chairman of the Association of Public Transport Employers (VWOV), calls the strike incomprehensible. According to him, employers cannot retroactively adjust the current collective labor agreement that expires at the end of this year. ‘It is impossible to call the extra 1,000 euros for the drivers a tip. We also know that the world is on fire and people are confronted with significant price increases.’
According to Kagie, the figures of the FNV about absenteeism are not correct. ‘Their image of the workload is also exaggerated. We are dealing with a different labor market, in which people sometimes only want to work 24 hours. Adjusting rosters takes six months. We would like to discuss this substantively with the FNV. Just indicate which securities should be included in a new collective labor agreement.’
Employers say: ‘Stop campaigning’
Kagie calls on the FNV to return to the table. ‘Stop campaigning. After the corona crisis, we will only have 60 percent of the travelers back. This strike is bad for the image of public transport.’ But the FNV has had enough. ‘One in five drivers is ill’, says driver Van der Gaag. ‘The traveler will be hurt even more if absenteeism in regional transport shoots up further.’
The FNV is only prepared to suspend actions in regional transport if employers come up with concrete proposals. ‘We negotiated for three years and got nothing done,’ says Van der Gaag. ‘We are always lured to the negotiating table with nice words and it does not yield anything. Since the national strike day, the employers have not moved. They have to take a look at themselves.’
Strikes by NS staff led to a collective labor agreement at the railways on 11 September. The NS staff will improve by 9.25 percent in the coming year and a half. On top of that, there is twice a payment of 1,000 euros gross.
The FNV also wants to discuss the tendering of regional transport. In North Brabant, Utrecht and South Holland, petitions will be presented to the provincial government on Wednesday. Van der Gaag: ‘We see the adverse effects of market forces. Provinces often choose the carriers with the best price for their concessions. But those companies have too little margin and try to get as much air as possible out of the timetables to increase their profits. As a result, the workload increases.’