Work

Hate calls over forced labour case

26 July, 2010 - 18:44 |

For the first time in his life, lawyer Marc van Hoof has received hate calls, the Financieele Dagblad reports. Anonymous callers abused him for representing a welfare recipient from Amsterdam who has appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, claiming that the work in a greenhouse the welfare agency made him do amounts to forced labour. Earlier, the Central Appeals Court ruled against him. In previous cases, courts have criticized welfare agencies for the indiscriminate way in which they put welfare recipients to work, but have not gone so far as to call this forced labour.

Alderwoman defends suspending minimum wage

5 July, 2010 - 18:01 |

It may be unorthodox to force people to work for wages below the minimum wage, but this is more social than to “lock people who want to work up in their benefit”. Thus said alderwoman Andrée van Es (GroenLinks) in response to a protest against municipal plans to suspend the minimum wage for certain categories of jobseekers. Critics say the municipality should provide wage subsidies, so as to allow these jobseekers to work at decent wages.

Amsterdam to suspend minimum wage

25 June, 2010 - 22:10 |
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Amsterdam volunteers to participate in a pilot in which disabled workers will receive wages below the legal minimum wage, announces the SP on its website. The party will join the trade union in protests against the pilot.

The Ministry of Social Affairs intends to make it possible for employers to pay wages below the minimum wage to workers with a disability. They will receive a supplement from the municipality, but will still earn less than the minimum wage, let alone the wages set in the collective labour agreement. According to the Ministry of Social Affairs, this will improve their chances on the labour market.

Sanitation strike not causing flat tyres

12 May, 2010 - 16:56 |
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As a result of the ongoing strike of the sanitation department, broken glass is laying about on the streets here and there. However Jos Louwman of bike rental MacBike is not noticing any increase in flat tyres. “It’s not like our repair shop is suddenly more busy than normal. I don’t think the mess is all that bad yet, is it?”

The lack of an increase in punctures is not simply a result of the use of anti-flat tyres. Even though these have spectacularly reduced the number of flats, tyres still are not immune to glass, as they notice at MacBike after events like New Year.

Protests at Giro d’Italia VIP dinner

7 May, 2010 - 22:51 |
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“The municipality can afford a dinner party at the start of the Giro d’Italia, but won’t pay decent wages to the bin men and road sweepers who make this event possible.” Tonight, the Support the City Cleaners Committee held a protest at the Beurs van Berlage, where an exclusive dinner party was held on the occasion of the start of the Giro d’Italia.

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