It’s been clear for some time now that the Dutch unions, especially the FNV (of which y.t. is a member too) have shook off their complacency and are becoming more militant. The cleaners strike of earlier this year was a good example of this. The union went into a traditionally unorganised sector and instead of just going on a membership drive actually fought and won a battle with the cleaning companies through high profile targeted strikes. It proved to the cleaners what a union can do for them but also what they can do for themselves; that they are the union.
Another part of the resurgence in union militancy is a renewed focus on international labour. There has always been solidarity with foreign unions of course, but too often Dutch unions have only fought their own corner. this too has been changing and a good example happened yesterday, at UPS. The FNV organised an harassement action in which members called the UPS service lines with complaints about the company’s behaviour in Turkey. Some 157 workers there who had become members of the Turkish union Tümtis have recently been fired by UPS, which the FNV members rang up to complain about.
It’s a good example of both the way in which the FNV has become creative at how to pressure employers and companies and how it’s looking beyond its own problems.