Travel disruption looms as transport workers strike – The Northern Times

Transport workers in the region are on strike again Wednesday and Friday over disputes over wages, workload and staff shortages, RTV Noord reportThe strike was called by the FNV and the CNV trade union federation over unfair pay and conditions of employment for public transport workers.

The union has not disclosed which carriers, routes or regions will be affected, but the measures could disrupt travel across the country.

Marijn van der Gaag, who represents regional transport workers in the FNV trade union, said transport workers were unhappy with the bargaining process with rail and bus service operators.

“Regional transport workers are at their limit,” he stressed. “Irregular rota and tight travel times make the workload too high. If nothing changes, it will be very bad for the future of public transport.”

The announcement of the new strike comes two weeks after the five-day strike in local transport. Workers are demanding new collective bargaining agreements with wages that keep up with inflation and better working conditions.

“There is a shortage of manpower in the industry, so the workload is very high. We need to shorten it and reintroduce the normal rota,” says van der Gaag.

FNV is demanding a 16.9% wage increase for its members and CNV is demanding a 14% wage increase. As the latest strike action by transport workers is about to begin, unions have warned of more pain if their demands are not met.

In recent months, there have been regular strikes on public transport, bringing public transport to a halt across the country. The protests are driven by the cost of living crisis and continued efforts by unions to improve CAO’s collective bargaining agreements for their members.