Hans Korver
Hans Korver sits at the table where decisions are made — on collective agreements, reorganisations, safety. “If something really matters,” he says, “we suspend negotiations. We go back into the room. And then something happens.”
But outside that room, black dust drifts through the air.
Korver has worked for De Unie since 2017 and has been involved in negotiations at Tata Steel since 2021. He deals with labour conditions and social plans. He knows the culture of consultation from the inside and still describes the company as a family business — not out of nostalgia, but because of the way people are listened to.
He mainly represents middle and higher-level staff. Through internal representatives, he hears what is happening. If maintenance budgets become too tight, it is raised. If staffing levels are stretched, it is discussed.
“Safety erodes when planning becomes too tight.”
On health, he becomes more cautious.
Outside, reports from the RIVM point to elevated health risks in the IJmond — for residents, for exposure.
Inside, the focus is on employee absenteeism.
“We don’t see higher absenteeism than elsewhere,” he says.
The numbers do not speak the same language.
Without concrete reports from members, he has little basis to act.
“If people come to us, we take it up. But I don’t receive more signals than usual.”
He trusts that internal data is not deliberately manipulated.
“If something were structurally wrong here, our representatives would know.”
At the same time, he sees what is happening outside: residents losing trust, employees removing Tata logos from their cars because they are being scratched.
Since Tata Netherlands has operated more independently, he sees more decisiveness — more attention to surroundings and communication. And he says it himself: pressure from outside helps.
“That pressure keeps the company sharp. Without it, things would move more slowly.” Closure is not a solution for him. Production — and emissions — would simply move elsewhere, to countries with less oversight. “It would disappear here, but not from the world.”
He operates in the tension between what is measured inside and what is experienced outside.
Not against the factory.
But not indifferent to what is rubbing against it either.