Union FNV threatens to strike at UvA
Trade union FNV is threatening the UvA with a strike by its members if it does not suspend ‘controversial collaborations’ with Israeli institutions and extend the right to demonstrate. In an ultimatum, the FNV says its members will go on strike from next Monday if the demands are not met.
According to FNV, employees are ‘outraged’ that the university does not want to guarantee the right to demonstrate, nor stop cooperating with third parties who are ‘potentially complicit in human rights violations’.
That is why the union is now threatening a strike. If the UvA does not meet the FNV’s demands by 12:00 on Friday, employees will go on strike for ‘several days’ from Monday 9 December.
“It is precisely from a university that you can expect it to enter into dialogue with its own people with an open mind,” says Bernard Koekoek, FNV Education and Research director. “But the Executive Board has been hiding behind bureaucracy for months. Even when it comes to fundamental rights, they do not dare to make choices. Employees are quite understandably frustrated about this. They are now saying: enough is enough, get over it or we will take action.”
The UvA stated in August that the FNV has ‘no formal negotiating position’ on the possible revision of internal rules. “These are matters that we discuss and decide with our own employee participation body and with the UvA community,” a spokesperson for the Executive Board said at the time.
