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Dutch truckers threaten direct action over ‘slave drivers’

Dutch lorry drivers are threatening to bring the nation’s roads to a standstill this winter in protest over “unfair competition” from Eastern Europe.

Haulage organization VERN claims about 15% of lorries on Dutch roads are owned by non-EU firms who observe lower safety standards and treat their employees like “slaves”.

The truckers want the European Union to take action to ensure they do not lose trade by complying with EU regulations on safety and working practices.

Klaas de Waardt, from VERN, said truckers were considering protest actions including strikes, slow-moving convoys and blockades if Brussels refused to take action.

Dutch lorry drivers are considering sending a joint delegation with their Scandinavian colleagues to the Belgian capital later this month to demand an investigation into the haulage industry.

“We don’t have a voice in The Hague these days,” De Waardt told Sp!ts. “But if this doesn’t work, we will start taking direct action on the roads in January.”

“If our politicians took five days off, the world would keep on turning. But if the trucks stood still in the Netherlands for five days, people would go hungry.”

He said the 10,000 small haulage firms in the Netherlands were being hit by unfair competition. “While the Dutch go to great expense to meet high standards of road safety and working conditions, our colleagues in Eastern Europe have no such restrictions.

“They’re badly trained, they’re a danger on the roads and the big transport firms treat them like slaves. That puts us at a serious competitive disadvantage, especially when we know that at least 15 per cent of all drivers on Dutch roads come from Eastern Europe.”

Source: Sp!ts: Hete winter op de snelweg

Photo by Chriszwolle