Tag Archives: staking

Werknemer

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employee Iconspeaker_3
[noun]
[de werk-ne-mer]

Werknemer Literally "werknemer" means "work taker". It is the formal term for "employee". Typically you'd never say that you are a "werknemer" somewhere, you would say "ik werk bij …" ("I work at …")

Examples:
– "Dit bedrijf heeft veel tevreden werknemers." 
("This company has a lot of satisfied employees.")

– "De plaatsvervangend directeur heeft besloten alle werknemers vanmiddag vrij te geven in verband met de warmte." 
("The deputy general manager has decided to give all employees the afternoon off due to the heat.")

– "De relatie tussen werkgever en werknemers is verslechterd door het langdurige conflict." 
("The relationship between employer and employees has deteriorated because of the long-lasting conflict.")

– "Uiteindelijk zijn de werknemers overgegaan tot een staking, maar dat was het laatste redmiddel." 
("Eventually the employees decided to go on strike, but that was the last resort.")

Related words:
– Werk: work [noun] [het werk, de werken].
– Werkgever: employee employer [noun] [de werkgever, de werkgevers].
– Vakbond: trade/labor union [noun] [de vakbond, de vakbonden].
– Staken: to strike [verb] [staakte, gestaakt].
– Staking: strike [noun] [de staking, de stakingen]. 

Staking

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Grammar: <staking> [noun] [de staking, de stakingen].

Translates to: “strike”.

The verb that goes with “staking” is “staken”, which means “to strike”. The Dutch are not eager to strike but it happens once in a while, especially in public transportation.

Examples:
1. “In de vier grote steden is er vandaag een staking in het openbaar vervoer.”
(“In the four big cities, today there’s a strike in public transportation.” See ‘Extra’ below.)

This example is based on a true event ;-), see http://www.nu.nl/news/886336/10/Staking_openbaar_vervoer.html

2. “Omdat het overleg tussen de vakbonden en de overheid is vastgelopen, is er vandaag een staking.”
(“Because the negotiations between the unions and the government have reached a deadlock, there will be a strike today.”) See also “DWOTD 77. Overleg“.

3. “Vanwege de slechte omstandigheden besloot de gevangene in hongerstaking te gaan.”
(“Because of the bad conditions the prisoner decided to go on hunger strike.”)

Related Words:
1. “Staker”: striker.
2. “Vakbond”: union.
3. “Werkonderbreking”: (work) stoppage.
4. “Protesteren”: to protest.

Extra:
“De vier grote steden” (see example 1 above) is the common group name for Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Den Haag and Utrecht.