International

Request corona aid, but then use it to pay out a fat bonus? Booking.com wanted to abuse the corona aid they received from the government to pay 28 million in bonuses. Under heavy pressure, Booking.com will now be repaying the 65 million corona aid to the government. 'Very rightly so', says SP Member of Parliament Bart van Kent. 'We have campaigned strongly against this abuse of corona aid, and our proposal to have Booking.com pay it back has received the support of an overwhelming majority in the House of Representatives.' Booking.com has now succumbed to the pressure.

Last week it became clear that Booking.com's top management has modified the rules within the company, aiming to pay out bonuses. 'This, despite the fact that they had laid off a quarter of their employees in 2020 due to the corona crisis. This is unacceptable', said van Kent. The SP, therefore, took immediate action at the Booking.com headquarters in Amsterdam last week. They hung posters and projected a message on the building to make it clear that the money must be repaid. Money intended to support ailing companies should not be used to line the pockets of top management.

Van Kent: 'Let this be a message to all multinationals and large corporations who think they can abuse our tax money and cash in on corona. We will not accept that, and we will take action.'