Summer bonus to help solve staff shortages at Schiphol: Trade union

Trade union FNV and Schiphol "for now" agreed that airport employees would receive a bonus this summer in an attempt to make the airport a more attractive place to work and thereby help solve staff shortages, Joost van Doesburg told Nieuwsuur. The union wants more from Schiphol and promised labor actions if they don't reach an agreement by Wednesday.

"Wages have to go up, and the workload has to go down. A living wage starts at 14 euros per hour. That is where it should go," Van Doesburg said to the program. Schiphol has a few chaotic weeks behind it, with massive queues, canceled flights, and aggression from travelers. "The past few weeks were certainly not a poster to come and work here."

Trade unions FNV and CNV are meeting with Schiphol again on Monday. A spokesperson for the airport told Nieuwsuur that Schiphol won't comment on the negotiations until after they're over.

On Sunday, Schiphol CEO Dick Benschop said that the chaos at the airport "hurt" him. He promised that Schiphol is taking measures to ensure would be no "massively long queues" in the summer, including operating fewer flights. Benschop admitted that the airport focused too much on cost-cutting and "growth for the sake of growth" in the past years. That approach has already been on its way out for a while, he said.

Van Doesburg said that FNV appreciates Benschop's honesty. "He is candid. Ultimately, it is the employees, the security guards, the cleaners, and the handling staff, who have had to pay the bill. That has to change if we are to come to an agreement."