Skippers of the ferries that sail back and forth across the Maas between Gelderland and North Brabant will transfer everyone for free from Monday. They have had a conflict with their employer, De Maasveren, about employment conditions for months.
With its five springs, Stichting de Maasveren provides the daily connection between Gelderland and North Brabant, or between the Maasland and the Land van Maas en Waal. For many hundreds of years there have been ferry connections between the provinces of Gelderland and North Brabant. For much of the 20th century, the springs were owned by the empire and were leased. The operators of the springs and their ferrymen ensured that people and animals were brought to the other side.
FNV
According to the FNV trade union, the foundation wants to introduce a new scheme for new employees with a lower entry salary, without a fixed irregularity allowance and without continued payment in the event of illness for more than two years. “The current ferrymen are campaigning to stand up for their new colleagues. They don't want a dichotomy, but equal work, equal pay," says FNV director Nuri Alders.
The ferrymen have been on strike for the past two weeks. "With this new action, the ferrymen want to show that they do not have a conflict with the passengers, but with their employer," Alders said. As of December 26, the foundation has indicated that they will no longer pay wages if they continue their actions, according to FNV.
The foundation employs 26 skippers who sail on five ferries. These are the ferries Appeltern-Megen, Maasbommel-Megen, Alphen-Oijen, Alphen-Lith and Alem-Maren-Kessel. They are roughly located in the area between Nijmegen and Den Bosch.
