More public transportation strikes could be announced next week

The labor unions FNV and CNV will make a decision midway through next week on whether to announce more strikes in regional public transportation. The unions will first consult with their membership on Monday and Tuesday.

During the meetings, they will evaluate the strikes that took place this week and how these might be expanded in the near future. Until then, employers have time to come up with a better collective labor agreement proposal, the unions said.

Negotiations failed earlier this week. The association representing public transportation employers, VWOV, said the unions broke off the talks even though an “above-average wage offer” of 8 percent was on the table.

The employers say it is on the unions to return to the bargaining table “with some sense of reality” to emerge from the “impasse.”

FNV decided to strike this week, while CNV wanted to first consult its membership. Due to the FNV strike, about 40 percent of regional transport did not run on Thursday and Friday.

The strikes, combined with the bad weather, meant drivers on Thursday faced the worst morning rush hour since 2019.