Public transport workers in the Netherlands Trade Union Confederation (FNV) are planning a national strike that will affect all trains, buses, trams, and metro services in the country on Wednesday 24th June.
The strike was announced by three branches of the FNV in protest against the Dutch Cabinet’s planned cutbacks to the state pension, unemployment benefits, and worker disability benefits.
The FNV warned there will be further strikes if the Cabinet fails to concede to the union’s demands.
The work stoppage will affect all public transport services operating during the overnight and early morning hours.
Employees will not begin their shifts until 8.00am which will have a knock-on effect on the next day’s rush hour as transport firms try to get their full network services up and running.
The FNV said: ‘We fully understand that travellers are being inconvenienced by this action, and we find that regrettable. We do not take strikes lightly; it is a last resort.
‘We are not only doing this for public transport employees, but for everyone. We must all be able to rely on strong social security in our country.’
The Cabinet of Prime Minister Rob Jetten, which has minority support in both houses of Parliament, previously announced it will temporarily freeze the state pension age.
However, the FNV, along with trade unions the CNV and the VCP, demanded the Cabinet freeze the pension age.
The current age when a full pension can be earned is 67 years, and that is scheduled to increase to 67 years and three months from 2028, and effectively grow by eight months per one-year increase in the life expectancy.
Meanwhile, those receiving unemployment benefits could see that money run out after one year, instead of the current maximum of two years.
Workers are supposed to receive the equivalent of one month’s salary as an unemployment benefit for every working year up to the point they lost their job, but that could also be cut.
At the same time, the Cabinet wants to slash the maximum daily benefit for people who are partially and fully disabled, and who receive the WIA benefit.
The FNV said a survey of its membership found that 98 per cent are opposed to the Cabinet’s plans, and over 85 per cent said they were prepared to strike over the issue.
The unions issued an ultimatum earlier this month, and on 11th May Social Affairs Minister Hans Vijlbrief pledged he would issue a response by Monday, May 18. Vijlbrief is a member of political party D66, as is Rob Jetten.
The FNV added: ‘There is widespread dissatisfaction among employees in urban and regional transport and on the railways regarding the Cabinet’s plans.
‘This work stoppage is a first, but clear warning: the measures must be taken off the table.
‘If the Cabinet proceeds with these plans to dismantle social security, further strikes are inevitable.’
Air France and Airbus guilty of manslaughter
LAST Thursday, Air France and Airbus were found guilty of manslaughter over a 2009 plane crash which killed 228 people.
The Paris Appeals Court found the airline and aircraft manufacturer guilty of corporate manslaughter over the incident, in which flight AF447 between Rio de Janeiro and Paris crashed into the Atlantic Ocean.
The passenger jet stalled during a storm and plunged into the water, killing all on board.
A court had previously cleared the companies in April 2023 but they were found guilty after this appeal.
The Airbus A330 vanished from radars during a storm on 1st June 2009, with its wreckage found after a long search of 10,000 square kilometres (3,860 square miles) of sea floor.
The black box was found after months of deep-sea searches in 2011.
All 12 crew members and 216 passengers on board the flight were killed when the plane crashed into the sea from a height of 38,000 feet (11,580 metres), making it the deadliest incident in French aviation history.
Relatives of some of the passengers, which included mainly French, Brazilian and German nationals, gathered to hear the verdict.
The companies have been asked to pay the maximum fine, 225,000 euros ($261,720; £194,500) each – but some of the victims’ families have criticised the amount as a token penalty.
However, the ruling may be seen as causing damage to the companies’ reputations.
Sanction Ben-Gvir!
ITALY has asked the European Union (EU) to sanction Israeli Minister of Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir who posted a video showing detained activists from the Gaza-bound flotilla kneeling with their hands tied and foreheads forced to the ground.
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on social mediahe had requested sanctions against National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir ‘for the unacceptable acts committed against the flotilla, seizing the activists in international waters and subjecting them to harassment and humiliation, in violation of the most basic human rights.’
Ireland and Spain have also joined the calls for EU sanctions on Ben Gvir.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni called for the immediate release of detained Italian activists and demanded an apology from Israel after Ben Gvir himself posted the video last Wednesday.
France summoned the Israeli ambassador to protest against the posting of the video.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot wrote in a social media post: ‘I have requested that the Israeli ambassador to France be summoned to express our indignation and obtain an explanation.’
Germany’s ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, said the treatment of the activists was ‘wholly unacceptable.’
Seibert stated: ‘It is good to hear many Israeli voices – including the foreign minister – call out in all clarity Minister Ben Gvir’s treatment of the detainees for what it is: wholly unacceptable and incompatible with the basic values of our countries.’
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares also said the Israeli envoy in Madrid had been summoned.
The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail from Turkey last week in the latest attempt by activists to breach Israel’s blockade of the Palestinian territory, after Israeli forces intercepted a previous convoy last month.
Israeli authorities said 430 activists aboard the flotilla were en route to Israel, while the Adalah rights group said some had already arrived at Ashdod port and were being held there.
Israel controls all entry points into Gaza, which has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007.
