New strikes in regional transport may follow in January. Members of trade unions FNV, CNV and VVMC are dissatisfied with the collective bargaining offer made by employers in the sector. If transport companies such as Arriva do not respond to demands for a better wage offer before a certain date, “collective actions” will follow.
According to FNV director Edwin Kuiper, it is quite possible that there will be strikes if employers do not respond to the ultimatum. VVMC talks about possible “collective actions”. The date of the deadline is not yet known.
The conflict revolves around one of the two collective labor agreements in regional transport, which mainly concerns train staff of regional rail operators and some bus drivers. For these approximately 1300 employees, the unions demand that wages automatically increase in line with inflation, which is now very high. According to the unions, employers offer much less.
Since mid-November, employers and unions have also been negotiating the other regional transport collective labor agreement, which covers some 12,000 employees. If those talks fail, it could lead to joint strikes by both groups in January.
In October there were still three days of strikes as a means of pressure for the larger collective labor agreement for regional transport, organized by FNV. There was also a demonstration at the province, the client of public transport in Drenthe. New actions were to follow in December, but they were canceled last week.