After five rounds of negotiations for a new collective agreement, unions and employers in cleaning have not approached. The employers’ association sticks to a pay freeze, while the FNV Bondgenoten Union emphasizes the modest demands of the cleaners, in starting up the “two dimes campaign” as part of the “Clean Enough” campaign, pointing at the net demand of Euro 0.20 hourly extra each for 2010 and 2011. The selective strike and related actions continue. The earlier attitude of major cleaning principals that they were no party in the conflict seems to change as both Dutch Railways (NS) and Schiphol Airport have announced to be willing to play a mediating role. Meanwhile, public support for the strike is growing. With the cleaners’ actions as a trigger, in the Dutch parliament and in a number of municipalities discussions have started up concerning sustainable procurement, including minimum wage and quality of work standards (See also this Collective Bargaining Newsletter Year 3 February 2010).
Dutch : http://www.fnvbondgenoten.nl/branches_bedrijven/branches/dienstverlening/schoonmaak/schiphol_schoongenoeg/schoonmakersparlement_presenteer/
English: http://unionrenewal.blogspot.com/2010/03/cleaners-strike-update-3.html
For more information, please contact the editor Maarten van Klaveren, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) M.vanKlaveren@uva.nl. You may find further information on the ETUI atwww.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net. © ETUI aisbl, Brussels 2009.