“Ah, no huh! Why didn’t I know this?” At the station in Bergen op Zoom, students are surprised on Friday morning that there are no regional buses. The relay strike of bus drivers has been going through the country for a week. And that it was now Bergen op Zoom and Roosendaal’s turn, was also announced by the FNV trade union. Apparently not all travelers were aware of this after all.
Regional buses from Arriva usually depart from the stops next to the NS station to Putte, Steenbergen and other surrounding destinations around Bergen op Zoom. But not Friday.
“I was out of bed at 6:30 this morning and now I’m stuck here.”
“I have to make a quick phone call now,” says a hurried young teacher. She is afraid that the children in her class will wonder where their teacher is. A schoolgirl from Roosendaal has to go to Ossendrecht. She is disappointed: “I got out of bed at six thirty this morning and now I’m stuck here.” She is going to call her mother and ask her to take her to school.
Two security employees from transport company Arriva explain the stranded travelers. “I can’t change it either”, one of them apologizes. “But it is for a higher purpose. A solution must be found for the high work pressure that my colleagues experience.”
The trade union FNV Streekvervoer is leading the strike action. “Higher wages and better working conditions should get more young people on the bus and in this way ensure a lower workload. The drivers will continue until they have done that,” said union director Marijn van der Gaag.
With the strikes, the drivers want to force a higher wage, among other things, in order to attract more young drivers. Van der Gaag: “Due to the poor pay, there are too few new, young colleagues and the work pressure has been so high for years that the absenteeism rate is 25 percent in some places. The employers really have to work harder for this.”
“I understand that they are on strike and I hope something comes out, but it sucks for me.”
“Shit!” A young student is very disappointed by the strike. He has to go to Steenbergen. “I can also ride a bicycle, but I have terrible hay fever. Then I have to pass all those trees and then I get a lot of trouble”, he sighs.
“I understand that they are on strike and I hope something will come out for them, but it sucks for me. I’m going to look for a solution.”