FNV demands breaks for NVWA staff in slaughter­houses

Working on the slaughter line is physically and mentally demanding. Yet staff supporting inspections (OMT'ers) at the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) are consistently being denied their legally entitled breaks. Trade union FNV is calling for an immediate end to this practice and submitted a petition to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature on Tuesday 26^th August 2025.

The petition was signed by 272 people, including 240 OMT’ers. With around 300 OMT’ers employed across the country, this means four out of five are voicing their support.

OMT’ers carry out strenuous, repetitive tasks on the slaughter line every day: pulling carcasses, performing overhead cutting work, and remaining constantly alert alongside a continuously moving conveyor. “That they are expected to do this kind of heavy work without a proper break is unacceptable,” says Svenja de Groot, board member at FNV Overheid.

According to the union, the NVWA wrongly counts so-called recuperation time – twenty minutes set aside for cleaning, relocating or carrying out additional duties – as an actual break. As a result, workers are missing out on their full thirty-minute rest period, as required under the Working Hours Act.

FNV is demanding that the NVWA immediately brings in additional staff, so OMT’ers can take the legally required breaks they are entitled to.