Around 700 trade union drivers at a meeting in Utrecht (Netherlands), rejected the collective agreement negotiated between employers’ organizations and trade unions in mid-March. The reasoning for many drivers, the compromise reached meant a worsening of their current working conditions. The drivers announced actions against the collective agreement. This should be strikes or deliberate delays, said Egon Groen, spoks person for the trade union FNV, against the Dutch daily newspaper “Financieele Dagblad”. It is still unclear when and where these actions are to be carried out.
The drivers are particularly disturbed by the new scheme for the compensation of overtime. Drivers who had so far a collective agreement with the company association KNV, were paid with 130 percent pay for overtime. The new collective agreement provides for a remuneration of 115 per cent. Until now, the trade associations KNV and TLN had negotiated their own collective agreements with the trade unions but in the future there will be only one collective agreement for all truck drivers.
