Train unions: Friday NS strike will continue as planned, despite contract offer

The strike by NS staff planned for Friday will continue, even though the NS submitted a new collective bargaining agreement offer on Tuesday. The decision was announced by Henri Janssen, who is leading negotiations for the new deal on behalf of union FNV Spoor. "For the time being, what is currently on the table is insufficient to call off the strike. And there is no collective agreement yet," said Janssen.

The NS reported on Tuesday that a new proposal has been sent to the unions. The railway company hoped to put an end to the great unrest among the staff. Major strikes have brought rail traffic to a standstill in recent weeks. The unions have announced three new one-day strikes, including the planned labor action on Friday.

The current NS proposal would raise wages by 5 percent with retroactive effect from 1 July of this year, and would see employees receive a one-time bonus payment of 650 euros. An additional 2.5 percent pay raise would be put in place on 1 January. Furthermore, the management wants to "make agreements about how to deal with the uncertainty of developments around inflation," and, among other things, enforce a minimum wage of 14 euros in the collective labor agreement.

Janssen called the invitation from the NS a first step to restart the negotiations. He said he is curious about what the NS thinks about the inflation correction. "Our members want automatic price compensation." There must also be more clarity about "work-life balance." He was supportive of the 14 euro minimum wage for workers. "That was our proposal."

The trade unions FNV, CNV and VVMC will jointly discuss the NS offer on Wednesday morning. CNV's collective labor agreement negotiator, Jerry Piqué, said on Tuesday evening, "As far as I am concerned, we will consider the offer and I will discuss it with the collective labor agreement committee. We will discuss the outcome of that consultation with the other unions on Wednesday."

The next strike is scheduled for Friday in the northwest and west regions. This includes Schiphol Airport and major cities such as Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam. Furthermore, the unions announced strikes on Tuesday, 13 September in the east, south and north regions, and on Thursday, 15 September in the central region.