A change in leadership was confirmed on Friday at the top of the PvdA, the Labour Party of the Netherlands. The new party leader is current Deputy Prime Minister Lodewijk Asscher, party chairman Hans Spekman announced in Amsterdam.
Asscher defeated Diederik Samsom by a nine percent margin, winning 54.5 percent of the vote. Asscher had decided fairly late in the process to challenge Samsom for the leadership.
PvdA (Labour) MP Keklik Yucel wants an extension paid parental leave in the Netherlands to six months after the birth of a baby, of which two months would be allocated for the child's father. Yucel will raise the issue in Wednesday's parliamentary debate with Deputy Prime Minister Lodewijk Asscher.
Deputy Prime Minister Lodewijk Asscher hit out at his party’s coalition partner for “stabbing the middle class in the back,” according to the Volkskrant. The Labour party member serves jointly as the Minister of Social Affairs, and accuses the conservative VVD party of increasing the wealth gap by not doing enough to maintain a middle class.
Deputy Prime Minister Lodewijk Asscher called for an end to the derogatory use of the word “Jew” with regard to fans of Amsterdam football club Ajax. Many of the team’s fans often refer to themselves as “The Jews,” even though the club has no historical association with Jewish organizations or Jewish athletes.
Some 24 Bulgarian found working at a mushroom farm in Standdaarbuiten, Noord-Brabant on Monday are allegedly victims of a forced labor scheme. The Inspectorate for the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW) raided the farm while authorities in Bulgaria carried out their own inspections to shut the operation down.
As election day rolled on into Wednesday night, political leaders in the Netherlands came out of the woodwork to address their parties and give their reactions to early exit polling. The polls showed drops in support for the coalition parties VVD and PvdA, as well as a surprise slide for anti-Islam PVV, with significant gains for D66, and more modest gains for the SP and the conservative Christian alliance CU/SGP.
The Dutch parliament will be considering adopting a law that would make it easier for individuals aged 65 and above to work after they start receiving the state pension. The bill was proposed to the House of Representatives on Thursday by the Minister of Social Affairs Lodewijk Asscher. It is likely to receive broad support from the MPs, reports NRC.
Prime Minster Rutte has stated he believes Turkey has no need to apologize for the alleged accusations that the Dutch government is racist. "In the future, we will make it clear that we are by no means interested in Turkey's opinion of our government and policies," said the prime minister after the cabinet meeting earlier today.
Allegations that members of the Turkish government formally accused the Dutch government of racism are unfounded, a Turkish diplomat said Thursday. "The Turkish government is not accusing the Dutch of racism. The Netherlands is one of our most valuable, and closest allies," a spokesman for the Turkish Embassy to the Netherlands said.
A Member of Parliament will propose on Tuesday increased maternity leave for women expecting a multiple birth. CDA MP Pieter Heermabrug is scheduled to discuss the situation with Social Affairs Minister, and Deputy PM Lodewijk Asscher.
The Dutch government is going to start working with a Risk Indication System (SyRI) that will make it easier for municipalities and government institutions to detect benefit or tax fraud.
Deputy PM Lodewijk Asscher has expressed fears that robots will increasingly be able to take over tasks historically performed by people, leading to a future rise in unemployment. Robots could replace cleaners, warehouse employees and even taxi drivers, according to Asscher.
Asian restaurants have been in discussion with Minister Lodewijk Asscher of Social Affairs and benefits agency UWV about receiving work permits to attract top Asian chefs to their restaurants. The parties came to an agreement, which will be officially signed on Wednesday in Amsterdam, de Telegraaf reports.
CDA leader Sybrand Buma was under fire in the Second Chamber today when he proposed to make the glorification of terrorism punishable.
Following the example of Amsterdam, Minister Lodewijk Assher of Social Affairs wants to engage in a national discussion about the future of Sinterklaas caricature Zwarte Piet, Trouw reports.
The cabinet's attempts to limit the export of benefits from The Netherlands to Morocco are hitting a block. Judges previously banned the lowering of running benefits. Now, the court in Amsterdam has ruled that new benefits have to stay level, De Volkskrant reports.
Despite an overall drop in unemployment, in the over-50s age group, it seems to be increasing. Minister Lodewijk Asscher of Social Affairs will make €34 million available for a plan to give the over-50s extra training.
Geert Wilders has incurred the wrath of Saudi Arabia. Last December the PVV-leader spread green anti-islam stickers that look like the Saudi Arabian flag. In place of the islamic creed, the text reads: 'Islam is a lie. Mohammed is a crook. The Qur'an is poison.' One of these stickers was sent to the Saudi embassy in The Hague with a letter.
Healthy working hours, work pressure and aggression in the workplace are among the problems of work stress that minister Lodewijk Asscher of Social Affairs has said he will implement measures against.
The cabinet is laying out an employment plan for the care sector, which is meant to help 80,000 people get a job or training.
Whoever does not speak Dutch, and does not want to learn the language, will lose their allowances within a year. This is what state secretary for Social Affairs and Employment Jetta Klijnsma has added to a bill that has been sent to the Council of State, RTL Nieuws reports.
