Municipal officials in Almere are on strike for a better collective labor agreement, more cities will follow

ANP

NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 09:54

Municipal officials in Almere are on strike for two days. The household waste is not collected, the streets are not swept and boas do not carry out checks or maintain order. Employees of the municipal office are also participating in the strike.

The activists started early this morning. They are striking for a better collective labor agreement, with a wage increase of 12 percent, because of the high inflation. The negotiations stalled in December because the unions considered the wage offer from the municipalities too low, and are now at a standstill.

In addition to 12 percent more wages for this year, the unions demand automatic price compensation in the collective labor agreement for 2024. Municipalities offered a wage increase of 5 percent for this year and an increase of 3 percent for next year. More than 187,000 municipal employees are covered by this collective labor agreement.

Also in other cities

Municipal workers are also going on strike in other cities. Short work interruptions are planned for Wednesday afternoon in Tilburg and Rotterdam. Next Monday morning, civil servants in Amsterdam will go on strike.

“Inflation has now risen high and wages just have to go along,” says a garbage collector in Almere who is on strike for two full days against the NOS Radio 1-Journal. “I definitely think people will notice it. We try not to get too much at the public with it, there are garbage trucks that do drive out and there will probably be catch-up days.”

On the website of the municipality of Almere, the municipality apologizes to residents for the nuisance and inconvenience that the strike may cause.

‘A lot of readiness for action’

“If you want to keep the facilities for citizens in order, you will also have to invest in your people. Especially in this tight labor market,” says Marieke Manschot, collective labor agreement negotiator at the FNV. “There is a lot of willingness to take action.”

A national demonstration will follow in Utrecht on 15 February. If the municipalities do not tack, according to the FNV, there will be even more long-term strikes in Utrecht and The Hague.

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