Around one hundred employees at the FrieslandCampina dairy factory in Leeuwarden will strike for sixteen hours on Monday in a dispute over the collective labour agreement. The FNV trade union says the action starts at 2:00 PM and ends at 6:00 AM on Tuesday.
The workers will gather an hour earlier in the factory’s car park with flags and speeches, according to FNV. This strike is the sixth at FrieslandCampina in just over a week. Staff at factories in Meppel, Beilen, and Nuenen have already taken action. Workers in Borculo also went on strike last night.
FrieslandCampina employs about seven hundred people in Leeuwarden. The factory processes raw milk into products such as coffee creamer.
Talks between FNV and the Dutch Dairy Organisation (NZO) have stalled. NZO says the strikes do not affect consumers or dairy farmers.
FNV is calling for higher wages, a four‑day work week, and increased allowances. Board member Edwin Martirosian says the union will expand actions to other dairy companies in the coming period. “As long as the NZO is willing to negotiate a good collective labour agreement for the people with us. The employers are still refusing to do so. According to them, there is not much enthusiasm for the strikes. If that is the case, they apparently haven’t been bothered enough by it yet. Then we will simply strike longer.”
NZO says the actions are unnecessary and irresponsible. The organisation argues that FNV’s demands are unrealistic and stands by its final offer. NZO says the dairy collective labour agreement is already above average and that the final proposal improves it further.
@ANP | News Brainport
