Due to a strike call from trade unions FNV and CNV, bus drivers, tram drivers and drivers in public regional transport will strike tomorrow for the second consecutive day. The public transport employers’ association (VWOV) expects the same picture on Friday as today: a strike with major regional differences.
The first day of the strike went well, says a spokesman for the carrier Keolis. “We are also used to it: there have been several strikes in recent months.” According to the company, it remains to be seen what happens tomorrow. “It is of course very annoying for travelers, but we only know shortly in advance who is cancelling.”
VWOV can also say little about what awaits travelers tomorrow, but the association suspects that the day will go the same as today. “Today we saw that there were many differences between the regions,” said a spokesman. For example, there was more willingness to strike in the south than in the rest of the Netherlands. And public transport around Schiphol Airport usually ran on Thursday. “We don’t expect the picture to be very different tomorrow.”
Because the differences between the regions are so great, it is difficult for travelers to keep an overview. That is why, according to Arriva, it is important to consult a travel planner shortly before you leave home. “We keep track of it as best as possible, we will do that again tomorrow,” promises an employee of the carrier.
The two-day strike follows the deadlock of collective bargaining between the trade unions and employers. This concerns the regional transport collective agreement for thirteen thousand people who work on the bus or tram and the multimodal collective agreement. This includes more than a thousand employees. The staff on the regional trains also fall under the latest collective labor agreement.
NS staff and city transport in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague are not on strike. These employees have their own collective labor agreements.
