Schiphol officers threaten labor actions

If go-slow actions at the airports in Eindhoven and Rotterdam this week don't push the Ministry of Defense to come up with a better collective agreement for Koninklijke Marechaussee officers, labor actions at Schiphol airport may be the next step, the Marechaussee unions 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 airports. So far they've limited their actions to the smaller airports of Eindhoven and Rotterdam. This week they'll again hold go-slow actions at the two airports on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

As military personnel don't have the right to strike, a go-slow is one of their few options to push their employer. In such an action the officers work as inefficiently as possible, within the margin of applicable laws and rules, to cause delays.

If this does not lead to movement in the collective bargaining agreement talks, Schiphol and other border crossings where travelers from non-Schengen countries are checked will be the next steps. The Koninklijke Marechaussee and Ministry of Defense have been at loggerheads for months. Talks reached a deadlock in April, when 90 percent of union members rejected the Ministry's final offer.