About a thousand employees of the DSM chemical plant in the Dutch town of Geleen are picketing to support their wage demands. The access road to the plant clogged up and traffic on the A2 motorway was disrupted.

The workers support the union view that wages should rise by 2 percent this year. DSM management disagrees, arguing that "poor market conditions" make such a rise impossible. The management has offered to meet the demands halfway, but the employees have not accepted this. They are threatening more drastic action.

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