Baggage workers are not getting the help they need at Schiphol, says Labor Inspectorate

The six companies that organize baggage handling services at Schiphol Airport must immediately deploy resources to assist employees who perform heavy lifting work, the Dutch Labor Inspectorate said on Tuesday. In addition, the inspectorate has demanded that the handling of baggage in the baggage halls must be automated or mechanized within two years.

Flights were regularly delayed last year due to a shortage of airport baggage handling staff. Suitcase porters could no longer cope with the work pressure and became completely overloaded. As a result, suitcases often went missing and passengers had to wait extended periods of time for their bags. The companies that organize baggage handling are still having great difficulty in recruiting enough staff to meet needs at the airport. That is one of the reasons that Schiphol has imposed restrictions on the number of passengers that can depart for the period up to and including the vacation period that ends on May 7.

The baggage handlers have only taken "insufficient measures" to reduce the physical burden that the workers face, the inspectorate said. The lack of automated systems in the basement baggage areas is a glaring issue. Also, equipment that workers can use to assist with lifting heavy materials are not always available, or it is not ensured that they are actually being used.

"Discussions with employees have shown, among other things, that the lifting aids offered do not meet the requirements in practice or that their use causes delays," said the inspectorate. Insufficient use is also made of resources at aircraft when they are loaded and unloaded.

The Labor Inspectorate informed the baggage handlers on Tuesday of the requirements imposed. It is compulsory that they comply with the inspectorate's findings, must be the authority said.

It has been known for some time that employees of baggage handling firms are still frequently required to do too much heavy lifting. The companies, Schiphol and the Labor Inspectorate already came to an agreement years ago to make the excessive lugging work a thing of the past.

Schiphol said in a response that it will "make every effort" to automate or mechanize baggage handling "as soon as possible." According to the airport, about 75 percent of the baggage basements are currently equipped with lifting aids. "Automating/mechanizing the handling of all baggage is a major task. Worldwide, Schiphol does not know of an airport where baggage handling is fully automated, and discussions with potential suppliers also indicate that it is ambitious," the airport said.

"It is a pity that the sector, including ourselves, is unable to really solve this on our own and that the Labor Inspectorate has to be involved," Schiphol acknowledged.