Dutch police stop collecting fines in labor conflict

The police unions expanded their labor actions in their conflict with the police about a collective bargaining agreement for officers. From Thursday police officers will no longer collect outstanding fines and other overdue payments, NOS reports.

Officers already stopped issuing fines and tickets. From Thursday people stopped by the police will be let go with a warning, even if they still have outstanding fines. The police will still act if more is going on, such as a suspicion of a burglary or an outstanding prison sentence.

The unions emphatically state that it is up to the officer to decide whether or not to issue a fine. It is not clear how many officers are participating in these labor actions

The police unions are opting for "public-friendly actions that will hit the treasury as much as possible", according to NOS.

Union ACP said that this is not just about a better collective bargaining agreement, but also about changes that need to be made in the police organization. "The National Police is full of form-errors the personnel policy is not working and the workload is massive. It can not continue like this", an ACP spokesperson said to the broadcaster.