The 13 members of Damen Naval’s new Works Council (OR) recently had their first meeting and an official photo session to introduce themselves to their colleagues. The OR elections were held last December, and special attention was paid to ensure that the various departments within Damen Naval were represented. “The Works Council is there for the whole company,” explains Works Council chair Annemarie Ruitenberg. “Therefore, we also wanted the members of the OR to reflect the entire company. Thanks to the numerous enthusiastic candidates, we have succeeded.”

Ten of the thirteen members of the new OR. Back row, from left: Gerard Karelse, Bart de Jager, Noël de Clippelaar, Kyra Wielart and Patrick van der Heiden. Front row, from left: Jaap Kramer, Frederik Spilt, Miriam Hersmis, Annermarie Ruitenberg and Jimmy Post. Ten of the thirteen members of the new OR. Back row, from left: Gerard Karelse, Bart de Jager, Noël de Clippelaar, Kyra Wielart and Patrick van der Heiden. Front row, from left: Jaap Kramer, Frederik Spilt, Miriam Hersmis, Annermarie Ruitenberg and Jimmy Post.

The Wiekiesjij agency helped organise the elections with information about the planning, the electoral register and how candidates could register themselves. Voting also took place through the Wiekiesjij platform and the winners were announced on Monday 19 December. Of the 13 seats available, eight were filled based on location. This meant that the first three seats were chosen for representatives from the three sites of Vlissingen-Stad, Vlissingen-Oost and Schiedam. Then, five seats were distributed among representatives from the five departmental groups: Engineering, Production, Project Support, Commercial and G&A/Facilities/Housing. The remaining five seats were allocated to the candidates who received the highest number of votes after distributing the earmarked seats.

Of the total 625 eligible voters, 387 colleagues cast their votes: a turnout rate of 62%. Each voter could vote for three candidates. Annemarie was chairperson in the previous OR and was once again elected and reappointed in this position. In addition, many new representatives were elected, including Jimmy Post, Niels Koppers, and Max de Vette.

Jimmy Post. Jimmy Post.

Jimmy Post (32) is a Foreman at Vlissingen-Oost and has been working at Damen Naval for just over a year.
“My first and biggest motivation to join the OR was to maintain the connection between production and the rest of the company. The number of people working at headquarters has grown considerably. Moreover, I heard that a number of production employees were going to leave the OR, so I stood for election. People at head office don’t always know what’s going on at our production site and I hope to provide that connection. I am going to do my best to get the message across that it is important that we retain the knowledge and skills that we have at Vlissingen-Oost.”

Niels Koppers. Niels Koppers.

Niels Koppers (33) is responsible for expediting, forwarding and customs, and represents Vlissingen-Stad in the OR.
“I recently completed a study in Supply Chain Management, and I stood for election in the OR because I want to apply what I learned during my studies. I also saw that the Purchasing & Logistics department was not yet represented in the OR. In my work, I see that there is still room for improvement in terms of cooperation and communication between the departments. I hope to be able to contribute to that. It’s my first time on a Works Council and I’m looking forward to it.”

Max de Vette. Max de Vette.

Technical Specification Engineer in the Marine & Propulsion department Max de Vette (26) has swapped Vlissingen for Schiedam.
 “Damen Naval Schiedam has been in existence for just over two years, and during that time we have received OR-updates almost on autopilot. When it was announced that the new Works Council elections were coming up and there was an opportunity for Schiedam to get involved, I absolutely wanted to grab it. I want to build a bridge between the different locations and identify and settle any imbalances. I look forward to getting to know new colleagues and helping them if they run into something.”

Annemarie concludes, “The Works Council is important for the company to give employees a voice in important decisions. Especially in these times of change, it is important not to lose sight of the interests of employees and the company. We look forward to working with our new managing director.”

The new Works Council:
Annemarie Ruitenberg (Chair) – Engineering – Vlissingen-Stad
Maarten Glerum (Secretary) – Project Support – Vlissingen-Stad
Kyra Wielart – Production – Vlissingen-Stad
Miriam Hersmis (Secretary) – Project Support – Vlissingen-Stad
Noël de Clippelaar – Engineering – Vlissingen-Stad
Jaap Kramer (Vice-chair) – Engineering – Vlissingen-Stad
Gerard Karelse – Production – Vlissingen-Oost
Jimmy Post – Production – Vlissingen-Oost
Frederik Spilt – Engineering – Vlissingen-Stad
Niels Koppers – Project Support – Vlissingen-Stad
Bart de Jager – G&A/Facilities/Housing – Vlissingen-Stad
Max de Vette – Engineering – Schiedam
Patrick van der Heiden – Commercial – Vlissingen-Stad

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