FNV warns of risks of lengthy labour negotiations for Rotterdam

FNV union’s port section secretary has warned that Rotterdam’s competitive position may have been weakened because of lengthy negotiations with operators.

Niek Stam’s statement followed the conclusion of an 18-month consultation process between the port authority, container operators and trade unions FNV and CNV Vakmensen over job guarantees once two new Maasvlakte terminals become fully operational.

Stam, who celebrated reaching an agreement guaranteeing dockers job security until July 2020, also warned that FNV is very aware “of all the time that’s been lost here and the very real risk that the competitive position of Rotterdam may have been weakened because of the length of this process”.