Rotterdam – After the departure of Victor van der Chijs, Deltalinqs has once again chosen a chairperson from outside the Rotterdam port community. This time not a leader from the financial or creative sector, but an entrepreneur with more than 30 years of experience in the cleaning industry. The appointment of Jacco Vonhof — yet again an outsider — is striking, and perhaps telling: the industry association faces the challenge of regaining its direction after years of inconsistent and sometimes baffling policy. In addition, Deltalinqs must reduce the high number of fatal accidents among its member companies in order to attract enough qualified workers again.
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Staying on Course
That wavering character became visible in files, such as the toll on the Blankenburg connection (A24). Deltalinqs fiercely opposed the toll and argued that the bill should be passed on to the residents. Now, the organization has gone silent on the issue and even seems enthusiastic.
They also did nothing to preserve the Waterbus routes in the Rotterdam port area — routes that, in Hamburg, are a major success thanks to support from dozens of companies, transporting tens of thousands of port workers to their jobs every day. With the disappearance of the Waterbus and other connections, companies in the Rotterdam port now face a major setback. That is why Deltalinqs is now trying to solve this problem — one they helped create — through the platform “Travel to the Port”.
Reducing the High Number of Fatal Accidents
Deltalinqs also remains conspicuously silent on workplace safety. Their Antwerp counterpart, Alfaport Voka, immediately addresses companies after fatal accidents and often joins them in publicly expressing condolences to families and relatives in large obituary notices in Gazet van Antwerpen and other newspapers.
Deltalinqs, representing hundreds of companies in the Rotterdam port, never expresses regret or commemorates fallen port workers. In Rotterdam, they are simply forgotten, crossed off, and replaced by new workers. The contrast with Antwerp is painful and structural.
We realize that reducing the number of fatal accidents is by far the most important expectation placed on Jacco Vonhof — and that he will be judged on it. Let us hope he succeeds in ensuring that Rotterdam port companies finally do commemorate their victims. It is time for companies and it’s owners and managers show genuine gratitude and humanity, and for those who prefer to remain silent about incidents rather than acknowledge them to be held accountable.
The series of fatal accidents at C. Steinweg Handelsveem (see our C. Steinweg Death Monitor) is a tragic example. A management team lead by a former Wehrmacht soldier, prioritizing profit over human life and consistently looking away, has prevented structural problems from being addressed for decades.
Qualified Personnel
As a result, only foreign workers and young people without diplomas still find their way to the Rotterdam port. Experienced professionals prefer to stay away. Even lowering the minimum age for the most dangerous jobs — a change pushed by Deltalinqs — has not improved the situation.
In desperation, companies are now trying to recruit staff through Indeed and Feyenoord via baneninderotterdamsehaven.com. The plan is doomed to fail based on the name alone. It is incomprehensible that they do not partner with local platforms such as Havenwerk.nl and/or Havenbanen.nl.
Appeal
On behalf of the NAM (National Workers Museum), I would like to ask Jacco Vonhof to focus not only on the necessary clean-up and course correction, but above all on the workers in the industry. Therefore, I make this urgent appeal to you: