Regional train drivers to join next week's public transport strike

Train staff in regional public transport will join the previously announced five-day strike in regional public transport next week, trade union FVN announced. That means FNV, CNV, and VVMC workers will participate in the strike. According to FNV, the additional strikers will “make a difference,” especially in Limburg, Twente, and Achterhoek. The regional train employees also went on strike Thursday for better working conditions, including higher wages.

The regional train staff fall under the Multimodal collective agreement, which covers 1,300 employees for companies that offer both bus and train services, like Arriva and Keolis. The strike they’re joining next week involves the larger collective labor agreement in regional transport, which covers 13,000 employees.

“In both collective labor agreements, the employees want wages to automatically rise in line with inflation and that measures be taken to reduce work pressure and thus absenteeism by 20 percent,” FNV said. “People can hardly make ends meet due to high inflation.”

On Thursday, Arriva staff who work from Leeuwarden, Emmen Marienberg (Overijssel), and Zwolle went on strike. As a result, no trains ran in Friesland and part of Groningen. Train traffic also halted on the Vechtdal lines (Zwolle-Emmen and Almelo-Marienberg).

Trade union VVMC, which is also involved in the Multimodal negotiations, already announced on Thursday that it intended to join the national strike if Arriva and Keolis did not respond to its demands. Arriva replied that the current offer would remain on the table until Monday for the unions to respond to. But according to VVMC, that offer is too low. VVMC will join the FNV and CNV strike for a few days. Which days has yet to be decided, according to a spokesperson.

Next week’s strike will last for five days, starting Monday. An earlier strike by FNV alone resulted in about 40 percent of public transport not running in various regions.