The complaints received by the union are mainly about a combination of heavy work and enormous understaffing, the union says. This would result in a great workload and many employees would have suffered from back, shoulder, neck and knee complaints.
“For years, Schiphol has only been about unbridled growth, at all costs. Costs went down and profits went up literally on the backs of these employees,” says FNV Aviation director David van de Geer.
Too heavy lifting
In addition to compensation, FNV says that it mainly wants the working process at Schiphol to change. “Because the physical strain is still too heavy,” says Van de Geer. In September, the Labor Inspectorate also ruled that employees of baggage and cargo handlers at the airport still often have to do heavy lifting. The handlers, Schiphol and the Inspectorate already agreed twelve years earlier that excessively heavy lugging work would be a thing of the past.
The baggage companies at the airport have been discussed for some time. Just last week, the House of Representatives indicated that the salary of staff who deal with passengers and baggage at Schiphol should receive a higher salary.
The VVD wants Minister Mark Harbers of Infrastructure and Water Management to increase the pressure on airlines. For example, the party hopes that passenger and baggage handlers at Schiphol will receive a higher salary.
Salaries up
The union itself has been committed to raising salaries since September last year. There is only one obstacle. “Schiphol does not want to pay for the increase itself, but believes that the airlines should cover the costs,” Stijn Jansen of the FNV said to RTL Nieuws last week.
At the beginning of this month it was announced that Schiphol may set a maximum for the daily number of travelers during the busy May holidays and summer. This is because handlers are still short of hundreds of people.
