NS: All trains in the Netherlands could be cancelled Friday due to union strike

The NS has warned that the strikes of this Friday could have a “nationwide impact.” This is due to the fact that the strikes set up by the trade unions will take place in Midden-Nederland, which is where the NS manages the rail traffic for the whole country. For this reason, the NS has asked travelers “to keep in mind there will be no trains throughout the country on Friday, June 6.”

The FNV confirmed the strikes on Tuesday after NS did not meet the union's demands regarding a better collective labor agreement. The negotiations between the parties collapsed on May 8. They also announced their plans to strike on other days. There will be strikes next Tuesday in the West region.

That action will be followed by strikes in the regions North-West and East (June 12) and North and South (June 16). If NS does not agree to the demands, a national strike day will probably follow on Tuesday, June 17. FNV says it is preparing those strikes with the VVMC, a large railway union with many members at NS.

FNV wants a wage increase of 4 percent for NS employees on March 1, 2025 and March 1, 2026, plus 120 euros. The trade union previously described an offer from the employer with a 2.55 percent salary increase for a year as "scandalous", because that "does not come close to inflation." This while, according to the union, NS staff have been lagging behind inflation by more than 5 percent since 2019. The NS collective labor agreement covers 17,500 people.

The deadline to reach the FNV’s demands expired at 5 p.m. today. The deadline for the VVMC’s demands had expired at 4 p.m. "That means we are forced to go on strike," Janssen said. Wim Eilert of the VVMC is annoyed by the events. "We don't like doing this, it's not fun for the traveler. However, NS leaves us no other choice.”

Janssen also added that the work pressure amongst NS staff is very high as there are many vacancies at the company. "As a result, we also see many relatively new employees leaving the company quickly. Something needs to be done about that and good collective labor agreements are necessary for that," he said.

For the previous collective labor agreement, which expired on March 1, the unions and NS had agreed on an average wage increase of 6.6 percent. Although those collective labor agreement negotiations were also difficult, there was no mass strike at the time.

Although, the NS staff did strike In September 2022 for higher wages. Travelers throughout the Netherlands were affected by this. Ultimately, the staff managed to negotiate a wage increase of more than 9 percent until the end of 2023.

A spokesperson for NS has said that the railway company has not yet received an official announcement of the strike from the unions. "Only then can we see exactly what the impact is."

International trains are expected to run as planned.