The police in Leiden counted just under three thousand protesters. They hope that the education budget, which the House of Representatives approved after lengthy negotiations, will ultimately be rejected by the Senate. Rob Jetten (D66) and Frans Timmermans (GroenLinks-PvdA) who were present also called on the senators to do so.
The strike day and accompanying demonstration in Leiden was the first in a series. For the first time in 450 years, Leiden has gone on strike across the university, reports Mare.
On Tuesday, staff and students from Utrecht University, the University of Humanistic Studies and Hogeschool Utrecht (HU) downed tools. There too, several thousand students and teachers took to the streets, according to DUB.
Self-pay
The management of HU states that they share concerns about the budget cuts but will not participate in the strike, reports Trajectum. Staff at the university of applied sciences who strike must take a day off or otherwise appeal to their union’s strike fund. This would mean the management is following the national guidelines set by the Association of Universities of Applied Sciences.
“Colleagues do not feel supported by HU as a result”, says board member Douwe Dirk van der Zweep of the AOb union when asked. “In principle, if you go on strike, you do not get paid”, he acknowledges. “But this is a strike against government policy that HU also disagrees with, and not against the employer. They can withhold wages, but they do not have to do that at all. They are leaving the union members to pull the chestnuts out of the fire.”
Additionally, according to him, education staff usually do everything possible to avoid disadvantaging their students. That is also what the HU management is asking from the staff. “In that case, a cut in your salary is rather unsympathetic.”
The only one
As far as is currently known, HU is the only institution that intends to withhold pay from strikers. Van der Zweep: “The chair of the board of Hogeschool Leiden was simply on the action stage during the strike today and expressed support. We have not heard of any salary withholdings from other cities either.”
In the meantime, Hogeschool Utrecht has announced that no pay will be withheld from staff who strike for less than two hours.
