Trade unions, businesses, students not impressed by Budget Day promises in King's Speech

Trade unions and business associations are unimpressed by the promises made in King Willem-Alexander’s Budget Day speech on Tuesday. Trade unions VCP and De Unie consider the speech a wasted opportunity. The government could have restored trust but instead made vague and uncertain promises. Business organizations are worried by the lack of focus on failing infrastructure. Students wished for more attention to education.

The “dismantling of the social security system stands in the way of a positive agenda for the Netherlands,” trade union VCP said in response to the King’s speech. Like CNV, the union hopes parliament will take action.

“Politicians really need to step up,” VCP chairman Nic van Holstein told ANP. “We need to invest in people: in a strong social security system, sustainable employability, job-to-job transitions, and lifelong learning. We need to invest in employment to ensure a prosperous economy, sustainability, and innovation. Cutting back on social security is not the solution.”

In recent weeks, VCP has campaigned alongside FNV and CNV against government plans to cut social security funding.

De Unie chairman Reinier Castelein said that nothing has come from the hope that the D66 would inject new energy into the Netherlands. According to him, the budgetary promises the D66 made with the CDA and VVD to employees, pensioners and entrepreneurs are highly uncertain. “This delay hurts household finances and the business climate. This cabinet is rudderless, its policy lacks vision, and the promise that ‘it is possible’ is devoid of substance.”

Business associations Evofenedex and Bouwend Nederland both raised concerns about the government not focusing enough on infrastructure. The government promised extra funding, but that is only valuable if it forms part of a structural and long-term approach, Machiel van der Kuijl of Evofenedex told ANP.

“More maintenance is needed for aging roads, bridges, and railways. Additional funds are being made available for this in the coming period. But the budget remains limited,” Van der Kuijl said. "Good infrastructure is the backbone of our economy and should strengthen our earning capacity rather than hold it back."

"The most striking aspect of these plans is what is missing: the investments needed to keep traffic and transport moving," said Arno Visser of Bouwend Nederland, the industry association for construction. “The greatest infrastructure maintenance challenge ever deserves more than just pocket change. Delay leads to rising costs, while bridges, viaducts, and dikes simultaneously become less safe."

According to student union LSVb, the government has again focused only on weapons and defense and given no priority to education and research. Students are being treated “merely as a means to an end” and “enticed into war” while social services collapse, the union said.

Students’ concerns about their well-being are met with “defense brochures and recruitment campaigns,” said LSVb chair Evy Kras. “Security isn’t just ‘army green ’; it’s about livelihood security, and financial, social, and mental health.”