Bus drivers start three day strike for better labor agreement

Bus drivers in regional transport will strike for three days from Wednesday for a better collective bargaining agreement. The nationwide strike follows previous strikes and a demonstration at the Koekamp in The Hague in September.

According to Marijn van der Gaag of trade union FNV, employers refuse to reconvene to negotiate a collective labor agreement. The Association of Public Transport Employers (VWOV) also confirmed this. According to VWOV, employers will stick to the current collective labor agreement, which is in effect until the end of this year. FNV has not signed that agreement.

“They just raise their middle finger to their own staff. But the drivers are really fed up now and are not going to let it go. They will continue until a fair collective bargaining agreement is in place,” said Van der Gaag.

FNV wants, among other things, a wage increase to compensate for the price increases and lower work pressure. The union and employers have been clashing since May. FNV disagrees with the current wage offer and other conditions in the collective labor agreement.

Not all staff are striking from Wednesday. Trade union CNV did sign the new collective labor agreement in June.

Van der Gaag said the drivers find the situation “extremely annoying” for travelers. “But this strike is really due to the employers’ unwillingness to come to a fair collective labor agreement.”

In Noord-Brabant, Utrecht, and Zuid-Holland, bus drivers will go to the Provincial House with a petition. They demand that the provinces comply with the agreements in the contracts between the province and the bus companies.

About 13,000 people work in regional transport. More than 6,000 of them are members of FNV.