For the first time in 20 years, childcare workers are on strike: at 132 locations in Noord-Holland and Almere, staff are participating, although not all locations will be closed. The exact impact of the strike today is still unclear, says organizer trade union FNV. The action comes a week before a nationwide strike.
The strikes are a response to the collective labor agreement (.pdf) that has been concluded between the Childcare Branch Organization and the Social Childcare Branch Association with the trade union CNV. According to FNV, there is a lack of improvements that will remove the high work pressure in the sector in the short term.
Provide emergency shelter
Childcare centers try to arrange emergency care for vulnerable children or children with parents in crucial professions. However, the action can cause problems for some organizations according to industry association BK. “Child care centers are not allowed to hire extra people, because that goes against the strike law,” says board member Rogier Vegter.
Hero children’s centers in Haarlem, among others, offer emergency care themselves, says a spokesperson. “We have informed the parents whether the group can remain open and certainly not all locations have to close. For emergency care, it is mainly a consideration of what is good for the child. So far, only a few parents have registered for emergency care. “
“We try to ensure that children and parents are affected as little as possible by the strike, but that our employees can make use of their right to strike. Of course we want to prevent the closure of locations,” says the spokesperson for childcare. partou.
Number of strikers clear today
It should become clear later today how many employees of the locations have gone on strike. It has raised many questions at BOiNK, the interest group for parents. “Strikes at 132 childcare locations do not seem like much, but it does for parents. They receive the message that the childcare is closing and ask us whether they should pay for that day. For example, there was no need to pay for corona closures,” says chairman Gjalt jellesma.
BOinK understands the reason, but calls the moment of the strike unfortunate. “Over the past year, the employees in childcare, but also the parents have already had to walk on their toes. This strike is all about the workload. We would like to look with sector parties and the ministry at how checking the legal quality requirements can be done differently. so that the workload goes down,” says Jellesma.
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