Travelers in some parts of the country are greatly inconvenienced by the strike of bus drivers and train workers on regional lines. Some of the employees of companies such as Arriva, Connexxion, Keolis and Qbuzz are striking to demand higher wages. Public transport in, among others, North Brabant, Limburg, the Zaanstreek and Utrecht has been affected.
In Limburg and Brabant, for example, only 30 and 15 percent of the buses are running respectively, reports the association for public transport companies VWOV. The trams in Utrecht do not run at all. About half of the regional transport around Utrecht, Almere and Lelystad runs.
The willingness to strike is high in the Zaan region, which means that there are hardly any buses. At the same time, transport around Schiphol is largely running smoothly. There is also nuisance in Friesland, where regarding half of the buses run, just like in the west of the country.
Arriva also reports that its train transport in Limburg has come to a standstill, but that its trains are running in the north of the country. Fewer trains are also running around Zwolle, because Keolis staff have stopped working. The Valleilijn, a train service in Gelderland, is largely running, reports a Transdev spokesperson. All in all, the public transport companies can operate regarding half of their timetable.
The strikes only affect regional transport. NS trains will run, as will city transport in Rotterdam, The Hague and Amsterdam. The staff of NS and the city transport companies are covered by other collective labor agreements.
The regional transport companies are covered by the Collective Labor Agreement for Public Transport, which applies to around thirteen thousand employees. In recent times, employees of the public transport companies have often gone on strike. The strikers hope to get better working conditions through their actions.
For example, the CNV trade union is demanding a wage increase of 14 percent and the FNV even wants an increase of almost 17 percent. The unions also believe that something must be done regarding the high workload. The employers say they do not want to go further than an 11 percent wage increase. There would be no money for further increases.