At the end of last year, several drivers from various organizations also put down their work to go on strike.Photo: ANP/Hollandse Hoogte/Laurens van Putten
Trade union FNV threatens with a new two-day strike in care and student transport. If employers do not meet the demands of the union for the new collective labor agreement before 15 February, drivers in the transport sector will go on strike for vulnerable people that Friday and Saturday.
Earlier, employers in the sector concluded a agreement with the CNV trade union. FNV calls that “a very mediocre collective labor agreement. Our members do not accept that and continue with actions until a decent collective labor agreement is in place.” The collective labor agreement that was concluded with CNV is expected to become generally binding soon, says director Meindert Gorter of FNV Zorgtransport en Taxi. But FNV continues to campaign. That is the consequence of “outside” the union, says Gorter.
Drivers prefer not to go on strike The drivers do not like to go on strike either, according to FNV. “These drivers drive people from A to B, who depend on that transport. So if there is a strike, those people have nowhere to go. The drivers are well aware of this. The fact that they are willing to do so says a lot.” Children with, for example, autism or ADHD, who are in special education, use the student transport. Care transport is available for all kinds of people who do not have the possibility to move themselves otherwise, such as the elderly, or sick people who have to go to the hospital for an appointment.
One of the strike days falls on a Saturday, according to the union in order to cause as little inconvenience as possible to passengers.
Pointless A spokesman for KNV says that his organization finds the new strike “quite pointless”. “We like it when FNV comes back to the table for the next collective labor agreement.” According to the employers’ club, during previous strikes, the amount of inconvenience passengers experienced from the work interruptions differed greatly per region. The organization finds it very annoying for the people it affects. For example, students who use transport are already struggling with the consequences of staff shortages in the sector. “But on average, the impact of such a strike is not too bad.”
The previous collective agreement expired at the end of last year. Drivers also went on strike several times last year. FNV demands, among other things, a 15 percent continued payment of wages in the event of illness. According to Gorter, the strike later this month will only be canceled if the employers’ organization KNV Zorgtransport en Taxi shows that there is room to discuss the demands. In the sector, such 22.000 people.
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