Attention, the Port of Rotterdam has entered a week-long strike
Since September 10, the Netherlands has entered a week-long wave of strikes, involving public transport, police, health care and other industries.
It is worth noting that workers at the Port of Rotterdam, Europe's largest container port, also went on strike from 22:00 local time on September 7 to 02:00 on September 8, in order to fight for a better and permanent early retirement plan.
This is the beginning of a series of strikes announced by the trade unions FNV, CNV and Vakcentrale voor Professionals (VCP). Starting this week, strikes will be held in more than 20 places in the Netherlands.
The strike will officially begin on Tuesday, September 10, with city transport workers, including GVB in Amsterdam, HTM in The Hague and RET in Rotterdam, taking the lead.
Dutch rail company NS and regional transport employees stopped working from 4am to 8am on Wednesday 11 September. During this time, companies including Arriva, Transdev, Keolis, EBS and Qbuzz will suspend public transport timetables.
The regional transport strike was originally scheduled for September 12, but the date was brought forward to September 11 in order to coincide with the strike action by Dutch rail company employees.
Unions have warned that this is their "ultimatum" and that future strikes will intensify if the government does not come up with a structural solution soon.
In addition to the port and transport strikes, the police, who were supposed to maintain order during the protests, also joined the strike.
Earlier, the police union also organised a strike over the early retirement scheme and led to the cancellation of a football match between Feyenoord and Ajax.
In addition, although medical workers will not strike directly, according to the FNV, some medical workers will show their support for the strike by extending their rest periods.
The strike action is all being held over the expiry of the so-called RVU scheme, which allows people with heavy workloads to stop working up to three years in advance, but the scheme is due to expire next year (2025) and the extension has yet to be approved.
The retirement age for Dutch employees has always been 65. In the 1970s, unemployment in the Netherlands was so high that the government instituted an early retirement scheme, Vervroegde uittreding (VUT) - where employees would receive monthly benefits through their employers until retirement if they retired early.
But with an aging population, the Dutch Second Cabinet of Balkenende ended the early retirement policy in 2006. Although it was still possible to arrange early retirement through the RVU (Regeling Vervroegd Uittreden) early retirement scheme, employers had to pay a large amount of tax if they allowed employees to retire early.
Now unions are demanding that the arrangement be made permanent. The union's argument is that people with relatively low wages tend to do more heavy work.
It is worth noting that workers at the Port of Rotterdam, Europe's largest container port, also went on strike from 22:00 local time on September 7 to 02:00 on September 8, in order to fight for a better and permanent early retirement plan.
This is the beginning of a series of strikes announced by the trade unions FNV, CNV and Vakcentrale voor Professionals (VCP). Starting this week, strikes will be held in more than 20 places in the Netherlands.
The strike will officially begin on Tuesday, September 10, with city transport workers, including GVB in Amsterdam, HTM in The Hague and RET in Rotterdam, taking the lead.
Dutch rail company NS and regional transport employees stopped working from 4am to 8am on Wednesday 11 September. During this time, companies including Arriva, Transdev, Keolis, EBS and Qbuzz will suspend public transport timetables.
The regional transport strike was originally scheduled for September 12, but the date was brought forward to September 11 in order to coincide with the strike action by Dutch rail company employees.
Unions have warned that this is their "ultimatum" and that future strikes will intensify if the government does not come up with a structural solution soon.
In addition to the port and transport strikes, the police, who were supposed to maintain order during the protests, also joined the strike.
Earlier, the police union also organised a strike over the early retirement scheme and led to the cancellation of a football match between Feyenoord and Ajax.
In addition, although medical workers will not strike directly, according to the FNV, some medical workers will show their support for the strike by extending their rest periods.
The strike action is all being held over the expiry of the so-called RVU scheme, which allows people with heavy workloads to stop working up to three years in advance, but the scheme is due to expire next year (2025) and the extension has yet to be approved.
The retirement age for Dutch employees has always been 65. In the 1970s, unemployment in the Netherlands was so high that the government instituted an early retirement scheme, Vervroegde uittreding (VUT) - where employees would receive monthly benefits through their employers until retirement if they retired early.
But with an aging population, the Dutch Second Cabinet of Balkenende ended the early retirement policy in 2006. Although it was still possible to arrange early retirement through the RVU (Regeling Vervroegd Uittreden) early retirement scheme, employers had to pay a large amount of tax if they allowed employees to retire early.
Now unions are demanding that the arrangement be made permanent. The union's argument is that people with relatively low wages tend to do more heavy work.
