Because there are no trains running today, the nationwide demonstration against education budget cuts has been cancelled. 'We will launch a new action after the summer, closer to the elections', say the trade unions and activist groups.

The unions and activists had planned to make their voices heard on Tuesday at Dam Square in Amsterdam, protesting the government’s cuts to higher education and research. A delegation from Nijmegen was also set to travel to the capital. However, a train strike has made Amsterdam difficult to reach.

Railway unions have called for a strike by NS staff in the Randstad region due to a dispute over a new collective labor agreement. As a result, no trains are running anywhere in the country today (Tuesday).

Solidarity

‘Of course, we fully support the right to strike and want to express our solidarity with the railway workers’, reads a joint statement from trade unions FNV, AOb, and LSVb, along with activist groups 0.7 and WOinActie.

Higher education staff are still allowed to strike on Tuesday. The unions have not withdrawn the strike call, they write. This means lecturers, researchers, other staff members, and students still have the right to stop work or study today, even though the national demonstration has been called off.