There seem to be no more strikes for the time being at Smurfit Kappa, which also has a branch in Hoogeveen. Trade unions FNV and CNV and the company have found each other in a new collective labor agreement.
“We have reached an agreement in which the main demands of the strikers have been met,” says Hank Oomkes of CNV. “We will therefore present it positively to our supporters.” One of the most important changes was the scrapping of the net hours obligation of 1,654 hours per year. As a result, employees would work unpaid for a few days a year.
In addition, employees can expect a pay increase of 11 percent in the next fifteen months, of which 8.8 percent with retroactive effect from April. The new collective labor agreement applies to approximately 1,100 employees of Smurfit Kappa, which has eight other branches in the Netherlands in addition to Hoogeveen. In July, the workers of the cardboard factory went on strike twice.
“You see once again that it pays off as employees to pull together and make a fist. Striking is never our goal, but sometimes there is simply no other option,” says Oomkes.