Hundreds of employees of sheltered employment companies took action on Tuesday afternoon at Stadhuisplein in Eindhoven. They are deeply dissatisfied, demanding a ten percent wage increase and an increase in travel expenses.
Harry van Tuin works for Ergon as a school book sorter. That costs him all his energy, and he still encounters many problems due to his low salary. That is why he was fully present at the demonstration on Stadhuisplein. “I am very angry,” he says emotionally. “It is not easy to give 120 percent to your work with a disability. It’s not fair that double standards are used” Van Tuin refers to the employees in the garbage industry who recently received a higher wage. He also wants that for his profession.
Valuation
People who are at a distance from the labour market, who have a disability, for example, work for sheltered employment companies. Some have to do everything they can to keep their job. So is activist Cindy. She is a single mother and works in city cleaning. You get so little appreciation. I have to make sure the city is always clean. I always have to work, even during King’s Day and Christmas.” According to Cindy, there should be a bit more in return.
During the demonstration, the activists talked to the alderman for social affairs, Saskia Lammers. Then she was asked to sign a petition. The alderman refused. The employees jeered Lammers. However, the refusal does not mean that it is not close to her heart, said the alderman. “We need to listen carefully to these people.”
The municipalities of Helmond and Tilburg have signed the petition. The actions of the workers are not over yet. Soon they will talk to politicians in The Hague.
Source: Studio040.nl
Translated: Yawar Abbas
