Public transport strikes to hit Arriva trains in north, east Netherlands tomorrow

A strike in regional public transport will affect Arriva trains in the east and north of the Netherlands on Thursday. According to the trade union VVMC, Arriva’s regional rail transport employees will strike in Leeuwarden, Emmen, Marienberg, and Zwolle. The strike might also affect other transport in the northern and eastern provinces, the union said.

The striking employees fall under the Multimodal collective agreement for regional transport. The agreement covers 1,300 employees for companies that offer both bus and train transport, such as Arriva and Keolis. “We are now entering the third day of strikes with the Arriva staff. We are fighting for less work pressure and higher wages,” said VVMC director Wim Eilert, De Telegraaf reports.

Next week, the employees that fall under the larger regional public transport collective agreement will go on strike for five days, unions CNV and FNV announced. That collective agreement covers 13,000 people, mainly bus drivers. Earlier this month, a similar strike involving only FNV members resulted in about 40 percent of public transport not running in several regions for two days.