Amsterdam prison workers, tax staff ready labor strike

Corrections staff at the Bijlmerbajes and Tafelberweg prisons in Amsterdam, and the detention center at Schiphol airport plan to walk off the jobs between 12 and 3 p.m. next Thursday. Customs officials and tax authority workers from the Amsterdam and Hoofdorp offices will join the corrections worker in a march and rally in Amsterdam Sloterdijk. "We want to bring this question to the attention of the minister and The Hague. The workers do not have a collective agreement for four years now, and this is shameful. Their purchasing power fell in recent years by seven percent," the spokesman is quoted saying. The organizers of the protest expect around 700 employees to join the event. The activists will leave from the tax service's offices and walk to Zaventemweg for the rally. The strike is organized by labor union FNV in cooperation with other union organizations. The main reason for the protest is the absence of a collective labor agreement with civil servants. FNV sees no real progress coming from further negotiations, its spokesman told the Parool.