Pharmacies to close next week after unions announce nationwide strike

Thousands of pharmacies throughout the country are going to close next week on Thursday and Friday, January 9, and January 10, due to a strike. Trade unions FNV and CNV are organizing the strike to strengthen their position during negotiations for a new Collective Labor Agreement.

They also had plans to go on strike around the Christmas holiday season, but the court blocked those plans. Following that ban, the unions had already announced that there would be a multi-day national strike in January.

There will be no national action meeting during next week's strike. The trade unions promise that people who urgently need medication will still be able to get it, and emergency care will remain guaranteed.

The pharmacy workers started their protest in September with punctuality actions. However, these actions did not result in the desired result, which led to around ten regional strikes in all the provinces.

The pharmacies went on strike for half a day and then a full day. A national strike took place on November 12. According to the unions, this was the first Nationwide pharmacy strike in history. Around 10,000 workers gathered on the Malieveld in The Hague on the date.

Trade unions FNV and CNV are demanding a salary increase of at least six percent by July 1. They also want the minimum wage to be increased to 16 euros per hour, and there would be more measures to reduce work pressure. In addition, the unions demand that employees are paid for the time it takes to prepare for their work day.

The employers have offered a wage increase of two percent from July 1 and five percent from July 1 next year. They said that due to government policies and health insurance companies, they cannot offer more.