In September 1997, Amsterdam's dock workers employed by the Association of Dock Industries organised protests after the Randstad temporary employment agency decided not to become involved in an SHB financial rescue plan when its bankruptcy appeared imminent. Some 150 employees are likely to be made redundant.
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In September 1997, Amsterdam's dock workers employed by the Association of Dock Industries organised protests after the Randstad temporary employment agency decided not to become involved in an SHB financial rescue plan when its bankruptcy appeared imminent. Some 150 employees are likely to be made redundant.
The Association of Dock Industries (Samenwerkende havenbedrijven, SHB) is an alliance of dock companies that supplies workers depending on the demand for labour. In the Netherlands, this type of organisation is called a "job pool". SHB employs 300 dock workers, and was established after past reorganisations in the port of Amsterdam resulted in many redundancies. SHB employees receive full pay, whether or not they are actually called to work.
The management of SHB contends that the significant decline in employment has had disastrous consequences. Amsterdam is the world's largest port for the transhipment of cocoa. However, cocoa beans are increasingly being transported in containers rather than in bags. This has caused a decrease in labour intensity and, subsequently, a loss of jobs. In view of these problems, KPMG-BEA, a consultancy firm which acts as an intermediary between SHB and its workers, contacted Randstad, a temporary employment agency, in the hope of gaining its cooperation regarding a rescue plan for SHB. Having studied the situation at SHB for a month, Randstad finally decided against becoming involved. It argued that the wages of the dock workers were too high as a result of their generous working conditions, whereas their productivity (that is, the number of days actually worked) remained relatively low. Moreover, Randstad expected that automation would produce a further decline in employment in the docks. Finally, it also considered the labour market at the port to be far too diffuse and opaque for its liking. Applying the commercial temporary agency formula to the port's labour market was therefore not deemed feasible.
In response, the Amsterdam dock workers organised unofficial demonstrations in September 1997, demanding the continuation of SHB and their jobs at the port. Motorways were blocked and protesters attempted to occupy the Amsterdam City Hall. A number of activists even tried to prevent SHB from deploying temporary workers. Vervoersbond FNV, the transport union affiliated to the Dutch Trade Union Federation (FNV) was sympathetic towards the actions, but failed to endorse them officially.
Recently, both trade unions and employers announced that they are exploring the possibility of linking the Amsterdam job pool with the Rotterdam harbour job pool, which is also at risk. The employees in the joint pool would work an average of 36 hours over a four-day week, depending on the actual demand for labour, instead of 38 fixed hours over five days. Although wages would be reduced proportionately, it is expected that most dock workers will not experience any significant decline in income. Moreover, workers would have to be available for other distribution tasks, including those related to road transport. Despite these proposals, the dock workers have continued their protest actions.
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (1997), Amsterdam's dock workers organise protest actions, article.
