Train strike may disrupt start of Intree Week
The announced strike of the NS staff may have major consequences for the start of the Intree Week next Monday. The Intree committee, which is responsible for the organization, hopes to be able to arrange something for the first-year students this week.
“It is indeed very annoying,” Vera Hoogerwerf (Head of Marketing & Communication Intreeweek) says. “We can't start changing the whole program at this time.” Therefore, the Intreeweek is working on another solution for students who would come to Amsterdam by train next Monday.
“It’s not quite settled yet, but we’re in talks with the University Sports Center to see if students can also sleep in the big sports hall at the Universum as early as Sunday to Monday.” There, students without a room can normally sleep during Intree Week.
Nothing will be arranged for those students who have not applied for the Universe, Hoogerwerf says. “We assume that other students, who do not need a place to sleep, can come to Amsterdam on their own, for example because they already have a room.” Intree Week won’t be picking up students in the country with buses, as the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences is considering.
Resits
The UvA has no teaching next Monday, but there are resits, says a spokesperson. She thinks it’s important that students are aware of the impending strike, so they can think of an alternative in time. “If that doesn’t work, they should inform their program as soon as possible,” the spokesperson reports. The coordinator will then determine what will happen. “There will be no central policy.”
Employees are advised to work from home on the days of the strike in the region where they live, or the region around Amsterdam.
Strike
From today NS train staff will strike. Today, staff in the north and east of the Netherlands will lay off work, resulting in hardly any trains running above the Zwolle-Lelystad line. This Friday, staff will strike in the West region (Dordrecht-Rotterdam-Den Haag-Leiden) and next Monday in North Holland. It is expected that these strikes will also cause a lot of inconvenience elsewhere in the country, as well as the planned strike in the Central region on Wednesday, August 30.
NS staff are striking for higher wages. The unions have announced that they will move to a national strike if the relay strike has no effect. This nationwide strike would then begin in the week of September 5.
