News of: Monday, November 13 2006,
On Wednesday, November 15 there will be a strike of buses, trams and metros in Amsterdam, between 9am and 4pm.
The rest of the day public transport will be free (in Amsterdam).
In Amsterdam, the strike only hits buses, trams and metros. The ferries will operate like normal.
The strike will not affect train services between Amsterdam and Schiphol airport, as the train system is not object of liberalisation.
There have been rumours that train workers will go on strike as well, to show their solidarity. At the moment the strike appears to remain restricted to local (municipal) public transport.
Also in other big cities in Holland there will be similar strikes (Rotterdam, Utrecht, Den Haag).
The reason for the strike is the planned privatization of public transport in the cities. The unions disagree with the idea that market liberalisation helps to get better public transport.
