Published: 22/01/2021

Workers from 4 Cargill plants in the Netherlands stopped production and went on strike on Monday, January 18th. This came after Cargill had failed to meet IUF affiliate FNV’s collective bargaining demands. Dutch Cargill workers are striking for a better collective bargaining agreement and social plan.

  • Cargill reported 3 billion USD in profits for its fiscal year ended 2020, up 17% from the previous year and its 4th highest ever
  • At the same time, Cargill offered a wage increase that was completely insufficient to FNV’s Cargill members; FNV members rejected Cargill’s final offer and voted to strike
  • The plants where FNV members are striking are in Rotterdam, Bergen op Zoom, Sas van Gent and Amsterdam
  • The EFFAT Executive Committee, at its meeting on January 20, expressed solidarity with the FNV and called on affiliates to support the strike
  • Union members from Dutch union CNV are also participating in the strike

Jos Hendriks from FNV explained: “We submitted our proposal in July. We had the first meeting with management on September 18. Afterwards, a final offer was made by management which was voted down. Immediately after, management indicated that they would make another offer that we finally received on December 23. It was completely inadequate again. The employer does not seem to take its workers seriously. We are done. The factories’ workers are going on strike. ”

Links:

https://www.fnv.nl/nieuwsbericht/sectornieuws/voedingsindustrie/2021/01/medewerkers-cargill-leggen-vier-fabrieken-plat?fbclid=IwAR2eo6X7BqADuIQ1N36nAnAMXkUzxTn11PZFh56B3LdCvT-cU8SbtstTUX4

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-31/cargill-pays-record-dividend-to-family-owners-after-profits-boom

We submitted our proposal in July. We had the first meeting with management on September 18. Afterwards, a final offer was made by management which was voted down. Immediately after, management indicated that they would make another offer that we finally received on December 23. It was completely inadequate again. The employer does not seem to take its workers seriously. We are done. The factories’ workers are going on strike.
Jos Hendriks, FNV