News

Besides some 250 train and station cleaners across the country, FNV members have stopped cleaning across Holland, including the following employers; UWV, Reed Elsevier, Telegraaf, Achmea, Cordares, Erasmus University, WTC, ABN Amro, Hogeschool Rotterdam, Philip Morris, the Tax and Schiphol.



About 1,000 cleaners have been striking since 23 February for a 30 cents an hour wage increase, travel expenses, training opportunities, reduced work pressure and to be treated with respect. Cleaners at stations and in trains have continued the strike since, and cleaners at offices and Schiphol Airport have joined them. On 9 March, over 1,000 cleaners attended a protest at the airport.



Contractors and cleaning companies have made a number of attempts to break the strike; the Dutch Railways has called on its own managers to clean trains and one cleaning company has illegally hired agency workers to replace striking cleaners. Another cleaning company CSU has implemented a crackdown on undocumented workers, but claims this is not related to the strike



Dutch Railways claims that it is not a party to the conflict between workers and the cleaning companies, but FNV Bondgenoten has published a white paper entitled ‘Schoon Genoeg’ at the end of last year, which concluded that contractors have a decisive influence on labour conditions in the sector.



To send a message of support to FNV, or find out more about the Clean Enough campaign, click on the link below:



http://www.fnvbondgenoten.nl/nieuws/actueel/stakende_schoonmakers_houden/