News of: Wednesday, January 19 2011,
Unions of public transport workers have announced strikes in several cities in the Netherlands on February 14, 15 and 16.
The workers will go on strike in a different city each day.
Amsterdam public transport is likely to strike on February 14. This means there will be either no public transport at all, or less public transport than normal.
The trains will not be affected, so, for example, there will be trains between Amsterdam and Schiphol Airport.
The reason for the strike is that the current government wants to introduce a public tender for the public transport in the big cities in Holland. Transport companies can then compete to get the public transport for a certain city.
Up to now, the cities have been protected from free market competition, but the government wants to change that. By doing so, it says it wants to economize and provide better service. The unions say it will cost jobs, and services will deteriorate.
Amsterdam public transport has always (since 1900) been run by the GVB, but with an open tender this could change.
