The metal industry workers are pushing for a pay rise to keep up with inflation. Four hundred people went on strike on Thursday while enjoying chips in the car park near Eindhoven’s Park Theatre.
‘You have to be able to earn a good living and now there are no toppings on it,’ said Peter Reniers, negotiator on behalf of the union FNV Metaal. Talks on a new collective agreement are not running smoothly. ‘We lack the willingness and ambition among employers to put down a good collective agreement here,’ he says.
An employee at a company that makes trailers says that it is now harder to keep up financially. ‘I do notice that I have to spend less on children. It’s pretty hard to make ends meet sometimes.’
Unfair
According to Peter, the situation is unfair because the metal industry is very important in the Brainport region, but workers are paid very little. ‘Without this sector, ASML doesn’t run either. There are a lot of ambitions here and without this sector, the region is at a standstill.’ Besides an increase in salaries, the union is also demanding additional compensation for ever-increasing prices. The sector must also become more interesting for young people.
The strikers believe that a solution will come soon. Willie Peerlings, an employee of an installation engineering company, is confident that the strike will have an effect. ‘I feel that enough money is being made in the industry. Because we are standing here, it now becomes their problem too.’
Source-Studio040
Translation-Chaitali Sengupta
