Philip Morris worker strike

Workers at the Philip Morris cigarette factory in Bergen op Zoom are on strike today. They are demanding that the direction meets them halfway with a better social plan, the NOS reports. The company wants to close the factory on the 1st of October. This means that 1230 people will lose their jobs. The unions and the directions are not in agreement about a social plan. The strike started this morning at 6 a.m. and will last all day, until 11 p.m. tonight. Among the contested points of the social plan is more pay. Philip Morris is fiercely against this, and warns that the actions will only lead to delays and insecurity for the workers. According to the company, the social plan is one of the best collective severance arrangements that has ever been offered to workers in the Netherlands.