Protest on 9 December: striking is allowed, but exams will go ahead

Lecturers will continue to receive their salary if they take part in the national strike day on Tuesday 9 December. Students may skip classes, but exams will not be rescheduled.

Next Tuesday, students, lecturers, researchers and other staff from universities will protest in Amsterdam against the cuts to higher education.

The trade unions have called a strike. Everyone can therefore join the protest, says Douwe van der Zweep of the Algemene Onderwijsbond. “It is a busy time of year”, he says, “but we want to send a message. We are pleased with every colleague who comes.”

Students

The right to strike does not apply to students. Students may therefore still be required to attend classes. Just discuss with your lecturer whether you can miss a class, suggests Maaike Krom, chair of the Dutch Student Union.

She is disappointed that students are not all given the day off. Krom: “It would be great if universities gave all students the chance to strike.”

And most of them are not doing that. Radboud University Nijmegen, for example, writes that students do not have mandatory attendance ‘except for exams, patient care and compulsory practicals that cannot be caught up or rescheduled’.

A similar message is on the website of the Arnhem and Nijmegen University of Applied Sciences. Students can report their absence to their programme, but beware: “Exams will go ahead as planned, you will not receive an exemption.”

Coordination

Universities will continue paying the salaries of those who strike, says umbrella association UNL. Staff should, however, coordinate their participation with their managers. “It is important to us that exams, PhD defences, inaugural lectures and other important events can continue”, says the spokesperson, “and that students receive all the material within the duration of a course.”

Universities of applied sciences want teaching to continue as normal. They see ‘no added value’ in a strike, says the spokesperson of the Association of Universities of Applied Sciences. But they too will not dock pay. “We sympathise with the resistance to the planned cuts.”

'Pleased with that'

The AOb considers this support sufficient. “Institutions would be allowed to dock pay, but they are not doing so”, says Van der Zweep. “We are pleased with that. They agree with the goal.”

That is true. Employers and employees often stand together against cuts to education. For example, they issued a joint statement earlier this autumn.

March

In Amsterdam, demonstrators will gather on 9 December from 12.00 pm at Dam Square, where a programme with speakers will start at 12.30 pm. A march through the city will follow.

The AOb has posted answers to frequently asked questions online. As a member of the union, for example, you can get a free train ticket. The union also explains what the right to strike entails.