News in brief from The Netherlands

News from the last Week

(July 2, 2025)

Trade unions announce KLM ground staff strike at Schiphol Airport

The KLM ground staff at Schiphol Airport Amsterdam want to strike again. The intention is to stop working for 8 hours next Wednesday. This was announced by the trade unions CNV and FNV.
Initially, the ground staff wanted to strike on Saturday. KLM successfully went to court last week to stop this. The judge called a strike that day irresponsible due to the holiday rush and the aftermath of the NATO summit.
The trade unions are now confident that the strike will be allowed to go ahead. "Based on the passenger figures that we have demanded from Schiphol and KLM and the agreements that we have made in the safety consultation, we are convinced that this strike can take place in a safe manner," says CNV negotiator Souleiman Amallah.
KLM stated in a response that it is considering going to court again to prevent the strike. The airline says it is disappointed with the unions, because KLM offered to increase the salaries of ground staff on Friday.
(Source: NOS.nl)

(June 30, 2025)

Cause of explosion in train still unknown, NS is investigating the cause

It is still unknown how the electricity box in the train between Alkmaar and Uitgeest could explode last night, a spokesperson for NS told NOS. One person was injured in the head in the explosion and was taken to hospital.
The train was taken to a maintenance location for investigation. According to the spokesperson, it is not known whether an electricity box had exploded earlier in the train. The explosion occurred near Castricum, on the balcony of the train, where passengers get on and off.
According to the spokesperson, there were approximately 650 passengers on the train at that time. They were taken to Alkmaar by two evacuation trains.
While waiting for the evacuation trains, three passengers became unwell due to the smoke that had formed after the explosion. They did not ultimately have to go to hospital.
The spokesperson for NS says that there is no reason yet to preventively check all electricity boxes in trains. "We will first wait for the investigation and then we will take measures," said the spokesperson.
(Source: NOS.nl)

(June 25, 2025)

Renovation of Binnenhof allowed to continue according to Dutch court

The renovation of the Binnenhof can continue. This was decided today by the court in The Hague in the nitrogen lawsuit that an environmental organization had filed to have the renovation halted.

In May, environmental organization Mobilization for the Environment (MOB) argued in court that the renovation should be halted because the correct procedures had not been followed for the required nature permit. Such a permit is required for almost everything that causes nitrogen deposition in protected Natura 2000 areas.
However, at the start of the renovation of the historic complex, no nature permit had been applied for at all. It was not necessary at the time, because the government had made an exception for construction projects. After the Council of State subsequently put a line through that goat path, a problem immediately arose for the large-scale renovation, which suddenly found itself without the necessary permit.
MOB then started legal proceedings with which the environmental organization wanted to have the construction halted. The fact that a nature permit was subsequently applied for and issued does not mean that the court no longer had to consider it at the hearing in May. The environmental organisation also asked the judge to annul the nature permit that was subsequently granted.
Furthermore, the environmental organisation demanded a penalty. The judge did not agree to this. The provincial government of South Holland, which granted the permit, has substantiated well that protected nature areas in the area will not be affected during or after the renovation.
(Source: NOS.nl)