The works council of trade union FNV Bondgenoten is going to the company court in Amsterdam in its dispute about the pending merger with other FNV trade unions.

The works council is worried the merger will lead to too many job losses for its members and is not financially sensible. ‘It is not clear what the benefits of the merger are to FNV Bondgenoten,’ a spokesman told the Financieele Dagblad.

The FNV trade union federation is currently made up of 18 separate unions with memberships ranging from around 100 to over 100,000.

The FNV was hit by infighting in 2011 when several unions, including Bondgenoten, refused to support pension reform plans agreed by employers, ministers and unions.