KRALENDIJK – Union AFBW is calling on the cabinet, the House of Representatives and Senate, and the Dutch trade union federations to give healthcare professionals in Caribbean Netherlands the same employment conditions as their colleagues in European Netherlands. According to the union, the introduction of a 36-hour working week in healthcare is an essential first step. This is stated by the chairman of the General Federation of Bonairean Workers (AFBW) in an open letter to the media.
According to the AFBW, the healthcare sector on Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba is at a tipping point. Healthcare workers bear the same daily responsibilities as their colleagues in the Netherlands, but their employment conditions remain structurally behind, the union states. According to the letter, this inequality affects not only the workers themselves, but also the quality, continuity and safety of healthcare on the islands.
Workload and staff retention
The AFBW describes the 36-hour working week not as a luxury, but as a necessary measure to reduce workload, prevent burnout and retain staff. "In a small community where every professional counts, this is a prerequisite for safe healthcare," the chairman writes in the letter.
The union is negotiating together with the Statian trade union All-4-1 on an overarching collective labour agreement for healthcare staff on the three BES islands. In European Netherlands, a 36-hour working week is already the standard in many healthcare collective agreements.
Appeal to The Hague and trade union federations
The letter is addressed to the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport, the cabinet led by Prime Minister Rob Jetten, the House of Representatives and Senate, the trade union federations FNV, CNV and NU’91, the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights, the National Ombudsman and the Legal Aid Office BES.
The AFBW emphasises that the appeal is not a political statement. "Healthcare professionals in Caribbean Netherlands deserve the same protection, the same appreciation and the same employment conditions as every healthcare professional in the Kingdom," the union writes.
