Police protest will result in fewer fines being issued

Police officers will no longer issue fines for minor offenses starting Monday 22 February, from 7 a.m. According to the police union, this is part of a protest against the faltering collective labor agreement negotiations and the cabinet's stubborn attitude in relation to increasing wages. Violation of the corona measures will still be fined.

The action ("More must be done for fines") was organized by the police unions NPB, ACP, ANPV and Equipe and can be regarded as the prelude to further action. 

The unions are calling on their members to hand out as many "action coupons" as possible in the near future. Practically, that means only issuing fines for gross violations of public order and safety, violations of corona regulations, and speeding offenses. The intention is - with some exceptions - that the violation is settled with a warning and a special action coupon in all other instances. 

The "less strict fines" has now become the traditional kick-off of collective bargaining actions at the police. If the cabinet "forces" the unions to keep this up for a long time, it could deny the state treasury quite a bit of income. 

Too low 

The collective labor agreement negotiations have been running since October 2020 and have not resulted in a new agreement as of 1 January. The cabinet's wage offer (1.3 percent wage increase and two one-off payments of 300 euros in a period of eighteen months) is far too low, according to the unions. The unions are holding on to a 2.5 percent pay rise and two one-off payments of 350 and 300 over a 16-month period. 

The unions are aware that these are difficult times in which the state has to borrow a lot of money to keep the corona-ravaged economy afloat. With a wage increase of 2.5 percent, the purchasing power of police officers would be maintained.