Massive lines at Schiphol customs check expected today

Travelers passing through Schiphol on Monday morning can expect long lines at the customs checks due to customs personnel performing a protest action for a better collective bargaining agreement. All passengers landing at the airport between 07:00 a.m. and 11:00 will have their baggage checked, Het Parool reports. Normally most passengers are allowed to just go through. Civil servants have been performing actions since may in an effort to get a better collective bargaining agreement from responsible minister Stef Blok of Housing and National Services. Blok urged the unions to discuss the matter, rather than performing actions. But the unions refused. According to Marco Ouwehand, director of FNV Government, Blok proposed worsening options and a 0.5 percent wage increase. He called the proposals "nothing more than an insult", Het Parool reports. "We want to go back to the table, but only if the minister wants to talk about a serious pay rise", he said to the newspaper. Patrick Fey, director of CNV Government, called it inevitable that the public will be affected by today's action. He said that inconveniencing the public is not their intent, but it is the only option. "Reversing the action and throwing everything open is not an option." he said to the newspaper. "Safety always comes first. We hope that with this we can increase the pressure on the minister."