Strikes continue at the Etos drug store chain because a new collective labor agreement is not forthcoming. In Haarlem, no fewer than twenty branches were closed on Wednesday as some employees are taking action.
“There are still many Etos shops open and people can also order their products online. But it is very annoying for the employees who are still working and for our customers, of course. Especially just before the holidays,” says an Etos spokesperson . .
According to FNV director Cindy Onvlee, the willingness to take action among Etos staff is high. In Amsterdam and Amersfoort, around 150 employees went on strike on Monday and Tuesday. There will be a strike in Breda on Thursday and Maastricht on Friday.
A general strike will follow in Utrecht on Saturday. The staff of the de Bijenkorf department store chain will also stop working. “Then we expect around five hundred strikers,” Onvlee reports.
Etos employees are dissatisfied with the lack of a new collective labor agreement. “These people are lagging behind when it comes to purchasing power. In recent years, wage increases have been implemented, but it is not enough,” says Onvlee. “We ask for full price compensation and then you have to assume a salary increase of at least 10 percent.”
But that’s not possible, says Pieter Increase of the VDF, the association of chain store entrepreneurs. “Overall price compensation is not possible. Furthermore, we hardly see this in any industry. Of course there are employees who face a loss of purchasing power, but we also see that personalization is applied.”
