WILLEMSTAD - The strike of Damen Shiprepair workers is over. This is reported by union representatives. The company and the unions have reached an agreement on a redundancy scheme.
78 Damen employees were told last week that they would lose their jobs. The ailing company has to downsize. The redundancy package consisted of three months' salary.
The staff stopped working and went on strike against the layoffs. The PWFC union called the news "sour". Especially since it was recently announced that Damen would receive a capital injection of forty million dollars. The plan would have already been ready with the Minister of Economic Development (MEO) Ruisandro Cijntje.
The staff is now back to work. After negotiations between the unions and Damen, the redundancy scheme has been adjusted. The employees who have received a letter of resignation will continue to be paid five months' wages, instead of three months. They have ten days to agree to the severance package.