Staff at Schiphol are very concerned about the high workload in the upcoming summer holidays. Employees fear that their safety and that of passengers will be endangered by the ongoing problems at the airport. This is apparent from a survey by trade union FNV among 664 employees.
“Slowly but surely people are being eroded, we are afraid they will fall over,” says Joost van Doesburg of FNV Aviation about the results of the investigation. “We see an increasing absenteeism due to illness, and as a result a workload that falls on fewer and fewer shoulders. It’s a snowball effect.”
Workload
The poll was conducted among Schiphol ground staff, such as people who work in baggage handling, check-in and airport security. Employees at Schiphol usually do not work for Schiphol itself, but for many other companies that, for example, take care of baggage handling and security. Ninety percent of the respondents are concerned about the workload this summer, eighty percent are concerned about high absenteeism due to illness and eighty percent fear long queues for passengers.
Van Doesburg is particularly concerned about the feeling of insecurity among staff. Colleagues who come into contact with passengers are increasingly confronted with aggression. But they cannot do anything about the long queues.” Seven out of ten airport employees are concerned about their own safety.
About 40 percent of staff are concerned about the safety of passengers and even the aircraft. “People have to work faster than is safe, which makes safety protocols disappear into the background. An aircraft can be damaged in this way and that can have major consequences.”
Staff shortage
The dissatisfaction among airport staff is not new. In April, many employees went on strike out of dissatisfaction with the working conditions at Schiphol. After corona, the airport has to deal with major staff shortages, which is reflected in long queues for travelers and a high workload among employees because they have to do more work with fewer people.
Schiphol cut the number of flights and offered staff a bonus. FNV wonders whether this will solve the problems. “You have to monitor the situation. As far as we are concerned, if the chaos continues, that means canceling even more flights.”
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