EN 
NL 
When you say Elmar Smid, you say 'work and income, that's really my big passion.' Because I think that's a great equaliser.' He insists number 9 on the GroenLinks-PvdA list and wants to campaign fully for European workers' rights in the European Parliament. The FMS spoke to Elmar about solidarity in the workplace, the connection between red and green and how the experiences in his youth give him the motivation to really make a difference.
Solidarity
The issue of labour does not feature very prominently in the campaigns of many Dutch parties. 'The tricky thing about these elections is that the cabinet formation, and the themes that came up during it, played right through it in the Netherlands'. This is precisely why Elmar went out to speak to people on the ground about the problems they encounter in their daily work. 'For example, we took Nicolas Schmit, our Spitzenkandidaat, to a supermarket distribution centre. 70% of the people there are flex workers but every day the supermarket has to be filled there, which is just structural work'. Although the supermarket owner still tries to insist that the weather, for example, affects the amount of labour required, Elmar is resolute: 'I think you can predict the weather just fine, and if not, you better start planning.'
'It makes no sense that you can pay temporary workers so badly and migrant workers even worse.'
Something special happened next on the shop floor in Geldermalsen. 'The permanent workers went on strike, not to improve their own pay, but to ensure that more permanent temporary workers could become permanent employees. They realised that this system was undermining their own position and that of the temporary worker.' With this, then, Elmar emphasises the importance of worker solidarity towards the employer. 'But I do hate like hell that these people had to go on strike because it's really not fun. And that's because politics has not done its job. It makes no sense that you can pay temporary workers so badly and migrant workers even worse.'
Red and green
Cooperation between 'red and green' is intensifying. Elmar also sees the logic of this cooperation in the field of labour. 'We are just going to show that we can make differences and offer solutions to the things people are stuck with.' He is specifically committed to the people who are at risk of being left behind in the big sustainability drive we need to make. 'You can do that, for example, if you start insulating social housing. Everything that doesn't have to go to the energy bill goes directly to disposable income.' 'But I also see it in industrial policy, it is precisely the workers who literally make that transition possible. And so you have to make sure that workers also see that that is the right course for a hopeful future.'
'We are just going to show that we can make differences and provide solutions to the things that people are struggling with.'
In this struggle, different movements can form alliances. 'The climate movement and the trade union movement have a common goal to ensure good jobs and a good climate in the long term.' It is also crucial to seek this cooperation in the European Parliament. 'The minimum wage directive would not have come about without the left uniting and the right dividing. We just have to do that working together, we're just going to show that we can do it. That way you can also show that you are making a difference for people.'
The Vogelaar district
Elmar grew up in Arnhem, in the Vogelaar neighbourhood Presikhaaf. 'That neighbourhood used to be known from SBS Problem neighbourhoods. By no means everyone got the same opportunities there.' There, he comes into contact early on with poverty and what it does to people born into it. 'Young people who grow up in poverty often have to do very different things during their childhood than they would actually like to.' Things that many young people take for granted, such as membership in a sports club, are simply not in the cards for some young people. This again has to do with the lack of good working conditions parents suffer from. 'The father of a friend of mine always had to work night shifts and could never take his son to an away game.'
'Young people growing up in poverty often have to do very different things during their childhood than they would actually like to do.'
'I have been very lucky quite a few times, and I am very well aware of that. It is definitely not a given that I am on the electoral list here now. And so that also means giving something back.' The sense of duty towards the less fortunate is therefore great among Elmar. 'They are all on my flyer, the motivation runs very deep.'
To Brussels
While working for the FNV, Elmar comes across Agnes Jongerius, a member of the European Parliament on behalf of the Labour Party. She asks him to come with her to Brussels and support her in developing new labour legislation. Seizing the opportunity, he works intensively with her for five years and learns a lot about how Brussels works. 'Most importantly, you have to have a mission. You have to know what you want to change. And I know that very clearly.' So it is important to have your vision sharp but it is also important that people believe in your message and want to help you. 'You can't do it alone and so you have to seek support. And so then it helps enormously that I know 90 unions across Europe that I'm already working with who want to take the same course and so are going to help push.'
'Most importantly, you have to have a mission. You have to know what you want to change. And I know that very clearly.'
There is also a clear contrast between Hague politics and European Union politics. 'It helps enormously that you know your files. You really have to read up because otherwise you will be played off the table. In Brussels the content matters much more than in The Hague, there it's much more about the short quotes.' Although being an MEP will be new for Elmar, he is well equipped with the wealth of experience and contacts he has gained in recent years.
Young energy
If Elmar entered parliament, he would be some 20 years younger than the average MEP. He therefore wants to 'bring the difference of perspective and show that young people have very different problems. You must have experienced that or heard about that, otherwise you just don't know.' Fair working conditions are particularly important here.
'Of course, it makes no sense that a young person of 18 gets paid half as compared to someone of 21.'
'For example, the minimum wage for young people, that there will now be standards that the youth wage must meet, we have fixed that. You will not be allowed to discriminate on age soon, which is what happens in the Netherlands now.' 'Of course it makes no sense that an 18-year-old youth is paid half as much as someone of 21. All the way through to the European Court!'
Training abroad
Elmar has now been a trainer for the FMS for many years and has provided training in several countries. 'It enables people to take things up themselves down the line.' For instance, he went to Belarus and Ukraine to 'see if we can set up partnerships.' It is precisely because the FMS has trainers with different areas of expertise that we can make a difference in several areas. 'The FMS can draw on all the quality we also have within the party.'
'What we need to do is make sure we turn anger into positive energy, so that people want to start building again and not tearing down.'
For Elmar, it is clear: 'workers' rights are simply human rights, you see it clearly in the treaties.' This fundamental idea about the importance of dignified and fair labour is what Elmar will propagate in Brussels, but he is also realistic; 'it's going to be hard work to get those majorities.' Even though there is a lot of polarisation in society, there are also opportunities. 'What we need to do is make sure we turn anger into positive energy, so that people want to start building again and not tearing down.'
