Schiphol officers threaten labor actions during summer peak times

The Koninklijke Marechaussee may soon be performing go-slow labor actions at Schiphol and other airports during peak summer times in protest against their new employment conditions. These actions can cause major delays during the summer peak, the unions for the armed forces announced, Het Parool reports.

The Koninklijke Marechaussee is a policing force that works as part of the Dutch military and is responsible for border security, including at airports and harbors. The unions for military and civilian personnel are in conflict with the Ministry of Defense over new labor conditions for the Marechaussee. According to the unions, the final bid for new conditions is unacceptable.

Their objections include that a proposal for a 2 percent wage increase was rejected. As was proposals for transitional measures for the increasing retirement age.

As military personnel do not have the right to strike, a go-slow action is their only means to force the ministry into making new agreements. During a go-slow, personnel work as inefficiently as possible, within the margins of applicable laws and rules, in order to cause delays. Concrete actions have not yet been announced.

"The chance that we will take action is large. We are not ruling anything out, we know that threats are ignored", a spokesperson for the unions said to Het Parool.

The Ministry of Defense is awaiting developments. "We are not yet aware of actions by the joint unions. We can not exclude actions and are awaiting what the unions come up with." The Ministry said in a statement. "Defense also regrets that there is no agreement, we find that there was an acceptable bid on the table."

Schiphol already struggled with massive delays during the Spring holidays. The airport promised improvement and implemented a number of measures to make sure the same doesn't happen during the summer. But labor actions by the Marechaussee may negate all those measures.