In July 1998, the food sector in the north of the Netherlands was shaken by labour unrest. First, the dairy concern, Friesland Coberco Dairy Foods announced the closure of six cheese factories within three years. Meanwhile, employees at Douwe Egberts in Joure went on strike to protest against the on-call days they had to work. After a strike lasting several days, the management agreed to the union's demands.
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In July 1998, the food sector in the north of the Netherlands was shaken by labour unrest. First, the dairy concern, Friesland Coberco Dairy Foods announced the closure of six cheese factories within three years. Meanwhile, employees at Douwe Egberts in Joure went on strike to protest against the on-call days they had to work. After a strike lasting several days, the management agreed to the union's demands.
In July 1998, labour unrest hit the food sector in the northern part of the country. At Douwe Egberts in Joure, employees went on strike to protest at current work patterns. At the same time, Friesland Coberco Dairy Foods announced that it would close six cheese factories within three years. Coberco, which employs 6,000 people, promised that there would be no compulsory redundancies among the 220 employees concerned. Instead, these workers will be transferred to other factories. The reorganisation plan has yet to be approved by the works council.
The proposed reorganisation is a result of Coberco's merger with other dairy producers at the end of 1997, which offered the chance to make cutbacks. The largest union in this sector, FNV Bondgenoten, reacted with surprise to the unexpected provisions contained in the reorganisation plan, especially since they did not cover mainly cheese, the core product, but rather other products instead. The Christian Federation of Trade Unions (Christelijk Nationaal Vakverbond, CNV) is concerned about the impact that the transfer would have on the employees declared surplus to requirements.
Meanwhile, at the beginning of July, 150 production employees stopped work at Douwe Egberts in Joure and other locations. This was a result of gathering discontent over the system of on-call days operated by the company, especially during holiday periods. FNV Bondgenoten felt that the six days of on-call duty, as laid down in the collective agreement, should be reduced to four. It argued that four days should be enough to provide sufficient personnel during the holiday season. Due to this difference of opinion, the collective agreement which should have come into force on 1 July for all 2,750 employees was not finalised. According to the union, the protest action enjoyed wide support among the staff.
Fearing disruption in supply to other enterprises, including subdivisions recently sold to Imperial Tobacco, Douwe Egberts management considered taking legal action. It judged the strike to be completely out of proportion with the nature of the dispute. However, after a four-day strike, it finally gave in to the union's demands, and now the collective agreement provides only for four (instead of six) on-call days.
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (1998), Unrest hits food sector, article.
