Unions announce 48-hour national strike in metal and technology sector

A major national strike in the metal and technology sector will take place on June 27 and 28. Trade unions FNV and CNV are increasing their actions because they believe employers have not yet sufficiently improved their proposal for a new collective labor agreement, even after 20 regional strikes.

The strikes have been going on since April. "For the time being, the national 48-hour strike is the apotheosis of a long series of relay actions throughout the Netherlands," CNV stated. According to the union, employees need a 12.5 percent wage increase to remain approximately the same in purchasing power. "That seems like a lot, but you must realize that they have not yet been compensated for the high inflation, as most other sectors are," said negotiator Johann Honders.

The collective labor agreement, which applies to more than 300,000 people, has expired since April. Employees of installation and insulation companies, among others, are being called on to come to one of the seven strike locations in the country on June 27.

According to FNV negotiator Peter Reniers, more and more employees wanted tougher action during previous strikes. "I find it incomprehensible that employers have allowed things to get to this point. The lack of willingness to meet our most important demands is deeply disappointing," he said. According to him, employers still have the opportunity to make a "good offer."

Employers' association FWT says it does not want to comment substantively on the negotiations. However, negotiator Ron Follon repeats the call for the unions to return to the negotiating table. However, he cannot say anything about the impact of the national strike. "The FWT does not conduct any research into this," Follon said.