De vuist van de vakbond / The union fist

When 300,000 people flock to Museumplein on October 2, 2004, for the largest trade union demonstration ever, the power of the trade union movement seems great. Although the demands to retain the schemes for early retirement are met, it turns out to be primarily a Pyrrhic victory. More than ten years later and a financial crisis further along, however, large corporations are the winners, argues author Menno Tamminga. How is it possible that top salaries continue to rise and large companies increasingly hoard their profits, while employees' wages are constantly being moderated? Meanwhile, we all have to keep working until we are 67 and the power of the trade union has crumbled; membership numbers are stagnating, the self-employed are on the rise, and fewer and fewer employees see themselves as traditional workers, let alone organize themselves.