Pay plan brings Dutch chaos
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NEARLY 6,000 lorries caused two days of pre-Christmas chaos on Dutch roads when they blocked all borders in support of a novel trade union plan to create jobs for uneniployed drivers.
The blockade tactics, copied from the French and the Italians, • virtually sealed off the Netherlands by road from the rest of Europe until a judge in Utrecht ruled that the action was illegal.
As the snake-like queues of lorries and car; that stretched across the countryside slowly cleared, trades union officials and employers sat down once again in a bid to settle their differences.
About 18,000 Dutch drivers are jobless and the transport workers' union wants to create more jobs by reducing the number of hours worked in the industry.
Its plan calls for all drivers who spend more than 80 hours away on international journeys being granted an extra 20 hours off duty.
Firms could then hire drivers to keep these vehicles on the road — while the regular men are enjoying their extra rest — from c specially created national pool Of casuals.
A second reason for the blockade was the employers' insistance on not paying wages on the day that an employee reports sick.
A spokesman for the union, told CM: "We have modelled our scheme for creating a national pool of casual drivers from the dock labour pool which operates at Rotterdam. It works very effectively".
About 100 drivers were dismissed for takingpart in the blockade.