AOb supports protest against the departure of teachers from the city
De AOb supports the housing protest on Dam Square in Amsterdam on September 12. “All the teachers are leaving the city,” says AOb-driver Thijs Roovers, who experienced it himself. Getting a house is impossible with the salary that educational staff earn. “Of the 35 colleagues at my school, one lived in Amsterdam.”
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'A protest for people who, despite their full-time job at the end of their salary, have just a little too much month left because of their sky-high rent.' Or: 'A protest for people who can't buy a house because investors have bought up all the available homes on the market.' It's the slogans of the action group Het Woonprotest who is organizing a large demonstration on September 12 to draw attention to the housing crisis in our country. The group demands, among other things, an adequate supply of affordable houses and tackling investors.
Solidarity
The union is in solidarity with the action group, because it also sees that teaching staff and other colleagues from the public sector are forced to leave the city because they cannot buy a house. Roovers knows all about it. “A few years ago, as a full-time primary school teacher, I wanted to apply for a mortgage at Rabobank and showed my pay slip. The response was, 'Oh, you earn so little. Then I can't do anything for you.' And that was a house on the outskirts of Amsterdam of 50 m2.”
The response was, 'Oh, you earn so little. Then I can't do anything for you
Structurally higher salary
It ensures that the shortages in the cities increase, but also that the dynamics in the neighborhoods change, notes the AOb-driver. “I always saw my students in the supermarket, because I lived in the same neighborhood and was therefore part of their world. If everyone leaves, they come into contact with diversity less.”
A structurally better salary to make the profession more attractive is where the AOb has been working hard for a long time. Roovers: “That is something we as a union can stand up for.” In the area of housing, political choices are desperately needed. “A master plan, because the housing supply has an influence on teacher shortages in the major cities and also on inequality of opportunity.”
The first demonstration is on September 12 in Amsterdam at 14.00 p.m. The next protest is also planned, namely on October 17 in Rotterdam.
