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NL: Motion for broadcast ban on greenhouse farming rejected, danger not yet over

A motion to impose a broadcast ban for greenhouse horticulture and other sectors was rejected in the House of Representatives on Tuesday. With the motion, MPs Frans Timmermans (PvdA-GroenLinks) and Jimmy Dijk (SP) asked for a ban on temping for the greenhouse horticulture, meat processing, and distribution sectors. The MPs wanted to regulate the ban through a quick amendment of the law.

Prior to the vote in The Hague, GemeenteBelang Westland and the local Westland CDA asked the Westland municipal executive whether it was willing to send a clear and unambiguous signal to the groups in the House of Representatives that the said motion would not contribute to the problems cited by the MPs. The AD reports.

If the motion were passed, Westland's business community could be locked in. Both the greenhouse and distribution sectors are crucial for Westland.

Frans Timmermans in particular stirred heavily in the debate on labor migration last year, and was also fierce in criticizing greenhouse horticulture. About greenhouse horticulture, he remarked in a parliamentary debate last December that the "good guys" are currently suffering under the "bad guys". "If you have to compulsorily employ people there, you will see that the good companies that are already there flourish and the evils have to adapt. I see a turnaround in Westland, but still far too many problems are blamed on Rotterdam and The Hague. That really needs to change, and I think by having to employ people permanently, that works."

According to Timmermans, the sector is profitable enough to be an employer in a "decent way. "I think we can achieve that much faster with a temp ban."

New measures
Whether a rejection of the motion now means that the danger of curtailing the availability of migrant workers for the sectors mentioned is off the table is the question. Social Affairs and Employment Minister van Hijum also seems determined to do something about abuses involving migrant workers. A total ban on temporary agency work in certain sectors is a "last resort" for the minister, he hinted last autumn.

Another motion, by Timmermans and Dijk on behalf of PvdA-GroenLinks and the SP, calling for the publication of an over-the-counter overview of temporary employment agencies fined by the Labour Inspectorate under the Act on tackling bogus constructions, did pass on Tuesday.