More public transport strikes today; Starting to impact students
Regional public transport workers are striking again on Tuesday and Wednesday. Arriva reported that trains are running according to schedule in the north on Tuesday, but the strike is noticeable in the rest of the regions, including Limburg, Vechtdal, and Achterhoek. Educational institutions are worried about the continuing strikes’ impact on students.
Employees in regional public transport are striking for a better collective bargaining agreement. They want wage increases and measures to reduce the workload. Negotiations between the trade unions and employers’ association VWOV have been stuck for months.
On Tuesday, Marijn van der Gaag of FNV told AD that the trade unions are considering pausing their strikes and talking with the employers again. According to him, State Secretary Vivianne Heijnen of Infrastructure more or less ordered the unions and employers to restart negotiations.
According to Van der Gaag, the only way out is for both the unions and employers to make concessions. “But the employers want us to stop striking for six weeks. We’re not going to do that. That should be a shorter period.”
Educational institutions are worried about the continuing strikes’ impact on their students, with many noticing higher absenteeism and uncertainty among students, NRC reports. The problems are biggest in vocational education, where online and distance learning is more challenging to arrange as an alternative.
Tymen Kuperus, who teaches IT and data communication at Drenthe College, has had to switch to online lectures after 20 of his 24 students were absent because of the public transport strikes. “It is the third time this week, like corona is back,” he told the newspaper. “While many students indicate that they prefer to be at school - for example, because they don’t have a good workplace at home.”
The MBO Raad and Association of Universities of Applied Sciences told NRC that they notice an impact but that it differs significantly per region. The consequences appear to be the greatest for institutions in the north and east of the country, the association said.
