Netherlands: mass layoffs at Corus despite working time reduction

of Dutch Unions (FNV), a social plan with 1.000 job cuts is underway at Corus, a large Anglo Dutch metallurgic group. Yet, this company is one of the 170 businesses which were entitled to the working time reduction program (WTV) the government introduced at the end of November. (Ref. 090083)

The working time
reduction system (WTV) enables businesses
to send their employees to partial unemployment with the unemployment
insurance paying for 70% of their wages for unperformed work, while the comp