Bakers in the Netherlands threaten to strike due to low wage offer

Bakers in the Netherlands are preparing for a strike. This is because trade unions FNV and CNV cannot accept a wage offer from the employers for an annual average 5 percent increase and have therefore issued an ultimatum. If industrial and artisanal bakers do not present a better offer by Wednesday afternoon, their employees will stop working at several locations.

FNV and CNV speak of a wage increase that is "far too low." In addition, the unions want to include a provision in the two-year collective agreement that allows for early retirement. According to the unions, about 7,000 people are employed in industrial bakeries and nearly 44,000 in artisan bakeries.

Bakers have had to deal with, among other things, significantly higher energy costs in the past year. But now they have dropped considerably.

However, employers' associations say they cannot meet these high demands, partly because the energy crisis has different economic consequences for each business. The Dutch Bakery Association as well as the Dutch Bread and Pastry Bakers Entrepreneurs Association, who speak for the industrial and artisanal bakers believe they have made "good proposals."