Almere civil servants on strike for 12% raise; Rotterdam, Tilburg & Amsterdam next

Municipal officials of various municipalities are going on strike from Tuesday. The labor action involves city cleaning, such as garbage collectors, enforcement officers, and employees of municipal offices. City cleaners in Almere will kick off the strike on Tuesday by not working for two days.

Trade union FNV hopes the work interruptions and strikes will force a better collective labor agreement. There will be work interruptions in Tilburg and Rotterdam on Wednesday and in Amsterdam on Monday.

According to FNV, the strike in Almere will impact household waste collection and the emptying of underground waste containers, among other things. The municipality of Almere said that not all employees are on strike, which means that some waste collection may continue. But house containers won’t be emptied on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Over 187,000 employees work in the sector to which the collective labor agreement for municipal workers applies, FNV said. In November, the union gave the association of Dutch municipalities VNG an ultimatum after negotiations stalled. The municipalities offered a wage increase of 5 percent on February 1 and another 3 percent on April 1 of next year. FNV wanted a wage increase of 12 percent this year. The union also demanded automatic price compensation in the collective agreement for 2024.