Janitors on strike reach deal with union

Cleaners have been able to reach a deal for higher pay after week-long strikes and protests. Part of their new collective labour agreement also states that the first two days of their sick leave will be paid, according to union FNV Bondgenoten. The cleaners are expected to be back at work this evening or Thursday, the NOS reports. "Punishing ill cleaners will stop", says the union. "Cleaners will finally be paid during illness, like most workers in the Netherlands." "It is a heavily contested deal that allows the cleaners to make a crucial step on the social ladder", says Ron Meyer of FNV Bondgenoten. Once the cleaners officially agree with the deal, then it is expected that they will resume their work on Wednesday evening or Thursday, and the trains and stations will once again be cleaned after weeks of strikes and negotiations. Employers did not at first want to go in on the negotiations proposed by the workers to have the first two days of their sick leave paid. In the new collective labour agreement for the next three years, it states that the first non-paid sick leave day will disappear on the 1st of January 2015, and the second in 2016. The workers also negotiated a pay rise, which has been agreed upon at two percent. The year-end bonus will go up by 0.2 percent every year for the next three years. Further, aspects such as work pressure, respect and relations were also discussed. "The first must go down, the second up and the last must be improved", the union says.