Civil service trade union Abvakabo plans to reduce its workforce by 25%, or some 115 jobs, the Volkskrant reports on Thursday. The union is running a €3m loss but had assets of some €110m at the end of 2005, the paper says.

The union lost 8,000 members last year, but still has some 352,000 members on its books. Their average age is over 50, the paper says.