Public transit strike: no regional buses, trains today

The drivers of regional buses and trains are striking on Monday and Tuesday, bringing regional public transit to a stand still. The public transit in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague will run as usual, as these employees fall under a separate collective bargaining agreement. NS trains are also not affected.

Schiphol advices travelers using public transit to get to the airport to take note of the strike. "We recommend preparing your travel to Schiphol and your travel from Schiphol carefully", the airport says on its website.

Regional transit workers falling under unions FNV and CNV are striking for a better collective bargaining agreement, NU.nl reports. They want better working hours, a wage increase of over 3 percent, and more breaks to visit te bathroom. The strike, which affects regional transporters like Arriva, Connexxion, Qbuzz, Keolis and EBS, will end on Tuesday night.

According to union FNV, employers in regional public transit have been exploiting their drivers for years. "The driving times are getting tighter and tighter and there is no time for breaks", Paula Verhoef of FNV said. Hanane Chikhi of CNV points out that better agreements about wages, workload and bathroom breaks are also important for the safety of travelers and the service they receive. 

The association for employers in public transit VWOV tried to prevent the strike in court, but the court ruled that the strike can continue.