Failure to reach a deal on next year’s national government civil service pay means industrial action is a step nearer, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Thursday.

The government wants to impose a pay freeze for two years, and is also planning to cut thousands of jobs in an effort to reform government finances.
The public sector workers’ unions are calling for a 2% pay rise and a guarantee that no one will be sacked.
‘Given what is on the table at the moment, there is no point in talking any more. It is up to the members to decide if we should take action,’ Abvakabo negotiator Jan Willem Dieten told the paper.