No NS trains for 4 hours on Wednesday as workers strike against social benefits cuts
No NS trains will run between 4:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 24, due to a strike by train personnel. The NS part of the broader public transport strike will be shorter than previously planned, FNV board member Henri Janssen said in a newsletter, ANP reported.
NS wouldn’t comment on what the consequences for the timetable will be. The transport company is still awaiting the official notification of the strike, a spokesperson told the news wire.
Previously, FNV planned to start the train workers’ strike at midnight. The trade union is planning multiple strikes to protest the government’s plans to cut social security benefits. The strike coincides with strikes in bus, tram, and metro transport.
The trade union has now decided to make NS part of the strike less severe. “Because our action is directed against Cabinet cuts to social security and not against NS, and because we still want to limit the inconvenience for travelers to some extent, FNV Spoor has agreed to an adjustment of the strike duration,” the trade union said, according to ANP.
The strike’s consequences for train traffic will likely stretch beyond the 8:00 a.m. end time, as it will take time for NS workers and trains to get where they need to be.
The Jetten I Cabinet had planned to save billions of euros through cuts to the disability (WIA), unemployment (WW), and pension benefits (AOW). According to the government, these reforms are needed to keep public finances healthy, resolve implementation problems, and get the labor market moving.
The trade unions have opposed the cuts from the start. Minister Hans Vijlbrief of Social Affairs and Employment has since scrapped plans to accelerate the increase in state pension age, and agreed to abandon key elements of reforms to the WIA and WW benefits. But the trade unions feel that the plans still disproportionately affect workers. They are therefore pushing through with their strikes.
