Cleaning crews plan weeklong strikes against government, Schiphol, trains

Cleaners at Schiphol and other stations in the Netherlands are going on strike from today until Friday, the trade union FNV has announced. With this, they are protesting against the collective bargaining agreement that the trade union CNV and the employers' organization Schoonmakend Nederland agreed to. Around 10 percent of all cleaners are members of the largest trade union in the Netherlands, FNV board member Caroline Lamberts said.

Cleaners at Dutch universities will also quit their work during the week, the trade union has said. FNV has called on cleaners throughout the country to join the strike. There are no strikes planned in the hospitals.

CNV and Schoonmakend have agreed to a collective bargaining agreement, but most of the FNV members disapprove of the agreements stated in it. That is why the trade union wants this agreement to be ripped up and for the parties to “genuinely listen to our cleaners,” Lamberts said. FNV members want a higher salary increase and an agreement that the wages would automatically rise with inflation.

Cleaners also went on strike for a period recently, but that has not led to the right result as of yet, Lamberts said.