With teachers in primary- and secondary education across the Netherlands striking on Wednesday, many a parent will be wondering what to do with their kids on this extra free day. Zoos and amusement parks across the country are there to help, according to a list compiled by newspaper AD.
A number of the larger attractions are opening on Wednesday, even though they're actually already closed or partially closed for the winter. Others are offering discounts.
Nine out of ten hospitals in the Netherlands will be taking part in a strike for a better collective labor agreement on November 20th. A total of 82 hospitals and rehabilitation centers responded to the trade unions' call to strike. Employees of university hospitals will not participate because they fall under a different collective agreement, NU.nl reports.
On Wednesday, November 20th, hospital staff across the Netherlands will do the hospital variant of a strike - refuse to perform any of their non-emergency duties. This is the first national strike by hospital workers ever in the Netherlands, unions FNV, FBZ, NU'91 and CNV said, NOS reports.
The net wage of Dutch employees with an average income will increase by around 50 euros per month next year, according to calculations by payslip company Visma Raet based on figures released on Budget Day on Tuesday, RTL Z reports.
KLM ground crew personnel at Schiphol will strike for the third time in two weeks on Wednesday afternoon. The Dutch airline canceled 12 European return flights as a precaution and expects that the strike will result in delays. Travelers are advised to keep an eye on current travel information through KLM's site.
Dutch employees can look forward to higher-than-expected wage increases next year, according to calculations from employers' association AWVN based on the collective bargaining agreements that have already been reached, Financieele Dagblad reports.
Central planning office CPB expected a wage increase in the market sector of 2.5 percent next year. But based on the multi-year collective bargaining agreements already reached in the market sector, AWVN calculates a wage increase of 3.3 percent for next year.
KLM ground crew employees will strike again on Wednesday, union FNV announced. Like Monday, they will not perform their duties between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.
On Monday, around 500 workers of the Dutch airline's ground crew went on strike. This resulted in KLM having to cancel a total of 67 flights, only 11 of which the airline announced in advance.
Eastern Europe is flourishing, with falling unemployment and rising wages. While this is great news for countries like Romania and Poland, it is a blow to the Dutch business world. Especially for companies that are increasingly dependent on migrant workers, ABN Amro said in a new report on labor migration, RTL Nieuws reports.
As the Dutch economy continues to improve, more permanent jobs will be offered in the Netherlands and contract wages at companies will continue to rise, according to Dutch central bank De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), NU.nl reports.
The number of permanent jobs is already increasing, said Job Swank, director of financial stability at DNB. This year, contract wages are expected to rise by 2.1 percent, after they already rose 1.5 percent in 2018. For 2019 and 2020 the bank expects wage increases of 2.6 and 3 percent respectively.
KLM pilots are threatening to strike if the Dutch airline does not respond to their demands for a better collective bargaining agreement before Friday, the Telegraaf reports based on a letter pilots' union VNV sent to its members.
The pilots demand a lighter workload and a wage increase, according to the newspaper. The negotiations between KLM and VNV have been deadlocked since VNV members rejected the proposed collective bargaining agreement in May. A spokesperson for KLM confirmed to the Telegraaf that the negotiations are "in a difficult phase".
Protesting police officers pulled Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus of Justice and Security over for a traffic check during his visit to a police training center in Nieuwdorp on Wednesday. The officers are protesting for a better collective bargaining agreement, ANP reports.
Trade unions FNV and CNV reached an agreement with regional public transporters about a new collective bargaining agreement. The nationwide strike that halted bus transport and some train traffic since Wednesday, is therefore over. From Monday everything will run as usual, the unions announced on Sunday, Omroep Brabant reports.
Due to a national strike in regional public transit, virtually no city- or regional buses will run from today. Some regional trains could also fall out. NS trains, and public transit in Amsterdam and The Hague are unaffected. Rotterdam is partly affected.
A regional public transit strike union FNV announced on Tuesday will start on Monday, be nationwide and will last as long it takes. The strike will affect regional buses and trains operated by regional transporters throughout the country, NU.nl reports.
Regional public transit workers that are members of union FNV will be striking on Monday, the union announced on Tuesday, NOS reports.
According to FNV, employers are refusing to make agreements on lowering public transit workers' workload and on a decent wage increase for the workers.
The union did not say what regions will be affected or how long the strike will last.
The outlook for the Netherlands economy is still positive, the International Monetary Fund said in its annual report on the Netherlands. The IMF again raised concerns about the growth of wages in the country being smaller than other countries with comparable economies. Annual wage growth in the Netherlands is around 1 percent, too little to compensate for inflation, the IMF said, NOS and ANP report.
Civil servants will soon be performing labor actions, the involved trade unions announced on Monday. The unions gave Minister Kasja Ollongren of Home Affairs and Kingdom Relations until Monday morning to respond to a wage increase demand for civil servants. She didn't and actions will now follow, the unions announced, NU.nl reports.
The Dutch government will not take any concrete measures to help Air France-KLM cope with the unrest on the French side of the airline, Minister Wopke Hoekstra of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister Hugo de Jonge both said, in different words, on Wednesday, NU.nl reports.
Air France employees are striking for a 5 percent wage increase. The strikes cost Air France 75 million euros so far, and resulted in the resignation of Air France-KLM's CEO last week.
Dutch Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen of Infrastructure met with her French counterpart Elisabeth Borne on Monday night to discuss strikes on the French side of airline Air France-KLM, and the consequences they hold, NU.nl reports.
Transavia pilots are on strike until noon on Monday, resulting in around 30 Transavia flights being delayed or canceled - 18 from Schiphol, six from Rotterdam and six from Eindhoven Airport. Only departures are affected by the strike. Arrivals are still on schedule, NU.nl reports.
The strike actually started at midnight, but the first affected flight was only scheduled to depart around 6:00 a.m.
Dutch Transavia pilots are planning to strike in the second half of this month - during the February holidays. The approximately 500 Transavia pilots have been without a collective labor agreement for more than a year, and negotiations with the airline about better working conditions stalled on Friday, NOS reports.
"At the moment, a strike seems to be the only way to enforce our demands", the Dutch pilots' union VNV wrote on a flyer being handed out at Schiphol this week.
Primary school teachers across the Netherlands will strike on Thursday, October 5th in an attempt to push the government to increase their salaries, unions CNV Education and FNV announced.
"Politicians really need to pay up, we want a fair salary and less work pressure in primary education", CNV Education chairman Loek Schueler said to news wire ANP. "The vague commitments politics made so far are insufficient for structurally better education."
ING employees in the Netherlands will soon have the right to a month's paid paternity leave at the birth of a new child, according to the new collective bargaining agreement the bank made with unions FNV Finance, De Unie and CNV Vakmensen. This appointment also applies to non-biological mothers, NU.nl reports.
The Netherlands' labor market is doing fantastically - unemployment continues to fall, just like unemployment benefits, and vacancies are on the rise. But the wages in the country are lagging behind the economic recovery and that must change, Christine Lagarde, director of the International Monetary Fund, said in Luxembourg on Thursday, Metro reports.
