National strike in dozens of hospitals after rejection of wage demand

ANP Staff of the OLVG East walked a protest march through Amsterdam in 2019

NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 09:43

Employees of dozens of hospitals will go on strike in mid-March. They will only provide emergency care for a day, the trade unions FNV, CNV, NU’91 and FBZ have announced.

The unions are going on a nationwide hospital strike because, according to them, employers do not want to offer more wages and other conditions. They had issued an ultimatum, demanding a 10 percent wage increase for one year and 100 euros gross per month. This morning the Association of Hospitals announced that it would not comply with the demands of the unions.

“Employees can whistle for purchasing power retention and more control over schedules,” says FNV director Elise Merlijn. “No, the employer just wants more flexibility and cuts on reimbursements that hospital employees receive, such as the shifted service allowance.”

Sunday service

According to FNV, staff in more than fifty hospitals have already indicated that they will participate in the national strike, in which they will then run a so-called Sunday shift. According to the unions, it is quite unique that a national hospital strike is immediately initiated. FNV expects more hospitals to join the national strike in the coming weeks.

The collective labor agreement expired on January 31. More than 200,000 employees in hospitals are covered. The Netherlands has 65 hospitals and 14 rehabilitation centers.

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