The Dutch cabinet has announced heavy cutbacks in defence spending, with €1 billion less to be spent on personnel and equipment over the next four years. Up to 12,000 full-time jobs will have to go, half of which forced redundancies. The Minister of Defence and Prime Minister claim the cutbacks will not prevent the armed forces from playing a meaningful role internationally. The trade unions are outraged at the consequences for personnel and are planning protest meetings.
Unprecedented defence cuts
The Dutch government intends to make heavy cutbacks in its spending on defence. In April 2011, the Council of Ministers agreed an unprecedented and severe package of cutbacks on personnel and equipment totalling €1 billion to be completed within the space of four years. As many as 12,000 out of a total of almost 70,000 full-time jobs will be scrapped (that is, one in six positions). This represents 15%–30% of current staffing levels, depending on the units concerned.
There will be around 6,000 forced redundancies within the armed forces and one in three administrative officers will be leaving. Jobs and equipment will be scrapped from all three military units (land, sea and air). In terms of equipment, selected tanks will be removed from service, mine hunters will be decommissioned from the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force will have to make do with fewer fighter jets. Barracks will have to be shut down and training cuts made.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte is nonetheless convinced that the Netherlands will continue to have international clout. The intention is for the Netherlands to have smaller, more effective armed forces, capable of being deployed within their means for all manner of purposes. Although the Minister of Defence, Hans Hillen, is shocked by the consequences, he still believes it will be possible to participate in international military missions. Operations will need to be leaner and less expensive. He also hopes that military spending will rise again once the economy picks up.
Unions appalled at consequences for personnel
The unions involved are outraged and have responded in disbelief, referring to the cutbacks as antisocial.
Chair of the General Federation of Military Staff (AFMP), Wim van den Burg, pointed out that people who were on operations in the Afghan desert spending six months working on helicopters have now heard that there is no place for them from 1 May. He stated: ‘These people are justifiably appalled. Cabinet has revealed its cold-hearted side. We are definitely going to take action.’
Chairman Jean Debie of the Union of Defence Personnel (VBM/NOV) refers to it as an all-time low for military personnel. ‘It represents yet another massive cutback for the armed forces. My heart goes out to all the people whose units will cease to exist. This job often means the world to them. We will not accept erosion of allowance and social provisions,’ says Jean Debie.
Trade unions take action within statutory limits
The unions plan to protest by organising protest meetings. Military personnel in the Netherlands do not enjoy the right to strike, but they can demonstrate provided the armed forces are not prevented from swinging into operation if necessary. They are obliged to ask their commander for permission and must take leave to participate, for example, in a protest meeting. Five hundred military personnel members attended the 11 April kick-off meeting called by the unions against the intended defence cutbacks.
In the coming weeks, 30 meetings will be organised at army, air force and navy bases. ‘In the first place, the meetings are intended to blow off steam,’ says Jan Kleian of ACOM, the armed forces trade union affiliated to the Christian Trade Union Federation (CNV).
The unions fear that, after the cutbacks, the armed forces will no longer be able to carry out international and national tasks. The protests in the weeks ahead will focus specifically on employment conditions. The unions are demanding no forced redundancies and no deterioration in the spending power of military personnel. A national day of action is planned for 16 June.
Marianne Grünell, University of Amsterdam, Hugo Sinzheimer Institute (HSI)