Some of the bus drivers in regional transport in Hengelo, Haaksbergen, Enschede and Tilburg will stop working today. According to the FNV trade union, there are almost no buses in those cities. It is the second strike in a national series to enforce a better collective labor agreement.
According to the FNV, the workload in regional transport has been too high for some time and is still increasing. This is partly due to a shortage of staff. The union wants drivers to earn more, also in order to attract more young drivers.
“Due to a poor salary, too few new, young colleagues are added and the work pressure has been so high for years that absenteeism due to illness is 25 percent in some places. Employers really need to work harder for this,” says FNV director Marijn van der Gaag.
Not all drivers are on strike
There was already a final offer from employers for a new collective labor agreement that should apply retroactively from July 1, 2021 to December 31, 2022. A total of around 13,000 people work in regional transport.
CNV Vakmensen already agreed with that final offer with a two-thirds majority of the members, but the FNV wants to see a better collective labor agreement proposal from the employers. The offer of the Association of Public Transport Employers (VWOV) was voted down by the FNV members in April. An ultimatum was then issued that expired Tuesday last week. Because a new proposal is not forthcoming, the FNV has started the current strike relay.
Keolis, the transport company that is active in that region, advises travelers to look for other transport today. According to the transport company, fewer buses are running, but it is not yet clear exactly which trips will be cancelled. That’s because not all bus drivers are on strike.
Earlier this week, dozens of bus drivers went on strike Groningen and Drenthe.
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