Dutch strikers

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Report from a s correspondent i Amsterdam INDUSTRIAL action continued in Holland this week against the government's attempts to cut back by 3½% the incomes of government workers and people on social security.

The government has already conceded half a per cent on the wages of public sector workers but is adamant that no further concessions will be made. It has high hopes that it can win.

The spineless response from the FNZ (the Dutch TUC) îs helping ensure that the outcome of this dispute will end in defeat for the Dutch working class.

They accept the principle that cuts have to be made and have as an alternative to the government's plan, their own plan, based on cuts in income of 1-12% spread across workers both in the public and the private sector, and based on promises by the government of industrial investment.

For the government this is an important battle. Ruud Lubbers, trying to hold together a cition master. , government, and his future depends on winning this struggle.

Collapse If agreement cannot be reached with the union leaders then it is very likely that the government will collapse. So to remain adamant on the question of the cuts, without giving concessions, is crucial from the government's point of view.

They have to prove that they are able to inflict on the Dutch working class a drop in living standards and prove that they are capable of returning the Dutch economy to a competitive level within the world economy.

Talks last week between union leaders and the government produced little. The government started the talks with the line that the cuts in 1984 would go ahead on : January 1 and that the only topic for discussion was cuts for 1985 and 1986, but agreed to the FNZ proposal that 1984/5/6 be discussed together as one package.

The government proposed that cuts in the average working week be discussed with cuts in income, clearly a move aimed at giving th the appearance that the government has conceded an important issue by granting a reduction in the working week. This has been welcomed by union leaders.

Both sides are aware that they cannot give very much. The government's future depends on holding firm and the union leaders cannot be seen to sell out too obviously in the face of mass working class pressure.

The government has done its best to try and quell the strike movement. Ferry operators, garbage burners and police have all been taken to court and their action has been declared illegal.

The media has attempted to create divisions between public and private sector workers by saying that public sector workers are very well off in comparison with those in the private sector.

Attempts have also been made to create a divide between "Christian" unions who are not overkeen on strike action, and the "Socialist" unions.

If the government can create the impression of giving concessians, thin the weaker, "Christan unions may be split off from the fight.

But industrial action continues and still has broad support, which in many ways is not surprising, considering that out of 7.2 million incomes in Holland, 3.9 million are affected by the cuts.

Action in the last week has continued from Poste Office workers, garbage collectors, firefighters; police, teachers, and also from the unemployed.

The Stock Exchange in Amsterdam was occupied and the police were used to evict them.

In The Hague, fire-fighters engaged in a day of action sprayed the streets to a depth of six feet in foam and there have been action days throughout Holland.

Apart from the garbage workers there has been little spontaneous action by workers, most of it being organised at the top by the inter-union national coordinating committee.

If the FNZ leaders' acceptance of cuts in principle is to be defeated, the rank and file will need to organise their actions independently of the trade union bureaucracy. Continued from front page attempted to drive out the vans with his papers, there were nearly 1000 pickets there - not Altrincham and Warrington Messengers. He had a closed Continued from front page concentrating on getting people up at night. Also, through our links with the trade unions and