Employees of the Dutch chemical company AkzoNobel have downed tools in two factories. Ten percent of workers in the city of Amersfoort and twenty in Arnhem are participating in the union-supported work stoppage. The largest union, FNV, has expressed its satisfaction.
The strike is the first of an estaffette to be held in AkzoNobel locations all over the Netherlands. Factories in Rotterdam and Sassenheim are next on Thursday. The all-day strikes follow an earlier series of shorter work interruptions.
The unions and AkzoNobel management have been haggling over a new collective labour agreement for months. Their bones of contention are wage rises and retirement pensions.
Earlier on Thursday, picketing began at the DSM chemical plant in southern Geleen by employees who are likewise demanding a salary increase. The action led to disruption of traffic on the A2 motorway.
© Radio Netherlands Worldwide
AkzoNobel (Photo: rtvoost.nl)
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