Schiphol security teams' brief strikes cause long wait times

A 20 minute long security guard strike at Schiphol airport caused caused waiting times of over an hour for passengers waiting to get through security on Sunday evening. On Twitter some passengers reported that the line is stretching to outside the departure hall.

The strike started at 7:00 p.m. and ended 20 minutes later, according to Het Parool. An hour after the strike ended, a German passenger tweeted that the line at the security desk is still 700 meters long.

Trade union FNV organized this strike, the third time that security guards at the airport laid down their work to protest for better working conditions. "The action was, to speak in union terms, a great success", a spokesperson said to the newspaper. According to the union, there were no reports of passengers missing their flights.

According to the union, the security teams spend too long on their feet, have to little time for breaks, have to spend all day in a bright light, too high temperatures and with a disturbing noise in the background. Schiphol and the security companies are in talks about the situation, but so far no compromise acceptable to both sides were reached.

Hence the strikes. According to FNV, the frequency and duration of the strikes will keep increasing until a solution is found.

Lange wachtrijen @ Schiphol door werkonderbreking beveiligers pic.twitter.com/ymdIANFP1e

— WIllem-Jan Marrée (@WMarree) May 29, 2016

Loooong que for Security at Schiphol. Unacceptable security risk created in this way. @Schiphol pic.twitter.com/f5bPkGDcnQ

— Paul Keursten (@paulkeursten) May 29, 2016

Unglaubliche Zustände am Flughafen Schiphol. Die Warteschlange für die Sicherheitskontrolle ist 700m lang! #schiphol pic.twitter.com/gzCVb6V4YM

— Ghhdd (@Dm_Cgn) May 29, 2016