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Two of the participants in the clubhouse in Amsterdam AP Photo/Peter Dejong

How Amsterdam is paying alcoholics to work for beer

In a pilot project, the city is giving participants beer in exchange for light work collecting litter and eating a decent meal.

THE MEN STREAMING in and out of a small clubhouse in east Amsterdam could almost be construction workers at the end of a hard day, taking off their orange reflective vests and cracking jokes as they suck down a few Heinekens, waiting for their paychecks.

But it’s only noon, the men are alcoholics and the beers themselves are the paycheck.

In a pilot project that has drawn attention in the Netherlands and around the world, the city has teamed up with a charity organisation in hopes of improving the neighborhood and possibly improving life for the alcoholics.

Not by trying to get them to stop drinking, but instead by offering to fund their habit outright.

Participants are given beer in exchange for light work collecting litter, eating a decent meal, and sticking to their schedule.

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Participants Ramon Mohamed Halim Smits and Simon talk to Amsterdam East’s district mayor Fatima Elatik (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

“For a lot of politicians it was really difficult to accept, ‘So you are giving alcohol?’” Amsterdam East district mayor Fatima Elatik said.

No, I am giving people a sense of perspective, even a sense of belonging. A sense of feeling that they are OK and that we need them and that we validate them and we don’t ostracise our people, because these are people that live in our district.

In practice, the men — two groups of 10 — must show up at 9 am, three days a week. They start off with two beers, work a morning shift, eat lunch, get two more beers, and then do an afternoon shift before closing out with their last beer. Sometimes there’s a bonus beer. Total daily pay package: €19 euros in a mix of beer, tobacco, a meal, and ten euros cash.

Participants say a lot of that cash also goes to beer.

Background

To understand how this all came to be, it helps to know the background. For years, a group of around 50 rowdy, aging alcoholics had plagued a park in east Amsterdam, annoying other park-goers with noise, litter and occasional harassment.

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Fred Schiporst collects litter in the district. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

The city had tried a number of hard-handed solutions, including adding police patrols, and temporarily banning alcohol in the park outright — including for family barbecues and picnics. Elatik says the city was spending 1 million euros a year on various prevention, treatment and policing programmes to deal with the problem, and nobody was satisfied.

Meanwhile, the small nonprofit Rainbow Group Foundation and its predecessors had been experimenting with ways to get help for alcoholics and drug addicts in the area.

Harm reduction

Floor van Bakkum of the Jellinek clinic, one of the city’s best-known addiction treatment clinics, said her organisation has a very different approach to treating alcoholism. She has a few reservations about the Rainbow programme, but approves of it in general.

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Three of the programme participants set out on their daily route (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

She said a “harm reduction approach” makes sense only when there is no real hope of recovery for an alcoholic.

“The Rainbow group tries to make it as easy as possible (for alcoholics) to live their lives and that they make as little as possible nuisances to the environment they are living in,” she said.

I think it is good that they are doing this.

Amsterdam has a storied history of pragmatic solutions to social problems — ideas that often seemed immoral at the time. Prostitution, now fully legal, has been tolerated here since the 1600s, when the city was a major port. Authorities designated a Red Light District where sailors could look for sex.

Marijuana use has been tolerated since the 1970s, when people realised street dealers were the main source of problems and authorities allowed weed instead to be sold in designated “coffee shops” while police looked the other way. In the 1980s and 1990s, health care charities distributed free clean needles for heroin addicts to prevent the spread of HIV.

‘Obvious choice’

This time, the idea was simply that troublemakers might consume less and cause less trouble if they could be lured away from their park benches with the promise of free booze. Rainbow leader Gerrie Holterman said beer was the obvious choice, because it’s easier to regulate consumption. Rainbow still harbours the ambition to get alcoholics to stop drinking and move them back to mainstream society and sees the work-for-beer programme as a first step.

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Marco Alexander van Vliet holds a can of beer while sitting down in the club house (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

“I think now that we are only successful when we get them to drink less during the day and give them something to think about what they want to do with their lives,” Holterman said.

This is a start to go toward other projects and maybe another kind of job.

She conceded there has only been one individual so far who has moved from the programme to regular life. Numerous participants have found the rules too demanding and dropped out. But she said nuisance in the park has been reduced, neighbors are happy and there’s a waiting list of candidates who want to participate.

Elatik, of the Labor party, said she couldn’t quantify the cost of the current programme — its budget comes partly from donations to Rainbow, partly from city funds — but it’s definitely less than €100,000.

Criticism

One critic of the project is politician Marianne Poot, of the rival conservative VVD party. In a position statement on her website, she praised the idea of forcing the men — who are on welfare — to work.

“But then it’s not proper to give them an extra payment in addition,” she said. “This really gives a completely wrong signal.”

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Ramon Mohamed Halim Smits cleans a playground. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

The men who participate are a lively bunch. Many are obviously buzzed at midday, and perhaps not highly effective at picking up trash, but jovial. Some say they aren’t alcoholics, just heavy drinkers.

The foreman of one group, Fred Schiphorst, takes his job seriously. He wears a suit and tie under his reflective vest, which he says gives him a feeling of dignity. He says he is treated with more respect in the neighborhood. But he admits his off-the-job drinking is still up and down.

One introspective programme participant is Karel Slinger, 50. He says frankly that his life hasn’t been transformed by the programme. His alcoholism is not under control. But he says on the whole, things have changed for the better.

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(AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

“Yes, of course in the park it is nice weather and you just drink a lot of beer,” he said of his old life.

Now you come here and you are occupied and you have something to do. I can’t just sit still. I want something to do.

Read: Pubs ‘should only be licenced if they stock non-alcoholic beer,’ says Mitchell >

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54 Comments
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    Mute Jp Cleary
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    May 15th 2025, 7:19 PM

    My own opinion is that Denis O’Brien couldn’t care less about ordinary workers.

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    Mute dave forde
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    May 16th 2025, 3:45 PM

    @John doe:

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    Mute Jb Walshe
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    May 15th 2025, 7:07 PM

    Respect to the Ben & Jerrys boss,Ben cohen

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    Mute ecrowley ecrowley
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    May 15th 2025, 7:23 PM

    @Jb Walshe: Not to derail an article, but fair play to him, especially considering his ethnicity.

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    Mute 8LLwCLed
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    May 16th 2025, 6:16 AM

    @John doe: sure he took the money when he sold up. He can say what he likes.

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    Mute Kevin O Brien
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    May 15th 2025, 7:26 PM

    Was Denis ,Fine Gaels Lowrys preferred bidder that time

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    Mute Buster Lawless
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    May 15th 2025, 7:08 PM

    A good, fair & well balanced article/ viewpoint. I simply cannot figure why / how or it should make an iota of difference to an employer exactly WHERE the work is done from……….provided productivity & results remain static or improve. I get that it ‘may’ be beneficial to hook up with colleagues once in a while ( see the white of their eyes so to speak) but the traditional 9 to 5 in an office miles away is thankfully an outdated Idea

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    Mute J H
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    May 15th 2025, 7:38 PM

    @Buster Lawless: is it outdated though? Still plenty of jobs out there that need people to be present. I don’t think remote working builders, nurses would ever take off. It’s a niche area. But they said on the radio the other day that the novelty of remote was coming to an end but people wanted incentives I.e planned activities and leisure areas. I thought wow, I always thought that a pay cheque was enough of an incentive. It’s not for everyone but nice to have the choice if it really helps you have a good quality of life.

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    Mute Kev Kerr
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    May 15th 2025, 7:46 PM

    @Buster Lawless: see the whites of their eyes? What are you going to do, shoot them?

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    Mute Buster Lawless
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    May 15th 2025, 7:56 PM

    @J H: mmmmm…… Can never see heart surgeons working remotely ……. obviously, the article relates to those who it can & does work well for

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    Mute Buster Lawless
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    May 15th 2025, 8:00 PM

    @Kev Kerr: lol, very good but seriously it IS great to hook up, brainstorm, grab a coffee occasionally with peers & colleagues……. Maybe I’m a wee bit olde skool but there are some interactions that are better suited to face-to-face

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    Mute Alan
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    May 15th 2025, 10:21 PM

    @Buster Lawless: that’s because you don’t keep up with the news. Remote surgery is well established.

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    Mute Dia M
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    May 16th 2025, 5:20 AM

    @Buster Lawless: there are actually a lot of surgeries that can be done remotely through robotics haha

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    Mute Sickof thisshit
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    May 15th 2025, 7:07 PM

    I’ll informed comments that are ignorant of today’s workloads. Showed us he’s in a world he no longer understands.

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    Mute Alan d
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    May 17th 2025, 7:12 PM

    @Sickof thisshit: He is 100% correct Dennis .

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    Mute honey badger
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    May 15th 2025, 8:00 PM

    How many days a year is the bauld Denis domiciled in Malta?

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    Mute Brian Hunt
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    May 15th 2025, 11:25 PM

    @honey badger: Probably none at all, it’s a tax dodge for the elite!

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    Mute Nikki Swift
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    May 15th 2025, 8:33 PM

    During COVID when it suited some employers to allow staff to work from home they were only delighted to send out laptops to keep their business open and keep staff in jobs so why can’t it keep going, if it saves staff money(they have no travel expenses) and the work is getting done what difference does it make

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    Mute J H
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    May 15th 2025, 7:49 PM

    I imagine it’s very difficult for Denis to understand remote working but he doesn’t actually realise he does it himself every day. It only affects a small sector the majority of us show up and work whether it be offices, hospitals, building sites, airports, shops, lorry drivers, bus drivers, taxis and hospitality sector. Definitely a generation of small business owners find it difficult which I can understand because it’s all they ever knew. I could do my job remotely but I’d hate it. Love getting dressed and going to the office and most days are a good laugh and I like the change of scenery. It wouldn’t suit my job or me.

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    Mute Cunningham Oliver
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    May 15th 2025, 9:09 PM

    I can work 2 days a week at home. I do 1 day a week at home. Still get the work done and hives me a better work/life balance. Denis O’Brien and a lot of top CEO’s hate us having workers right. They can do one. Hybrid working works for some industries. End of.

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    Mute Fergus O'Donnell
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    May 15th 2025, 8:21 PM

    A truly lost soul.

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    Mute Paul Garvey
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    May 15th 2025, 7:47 PM

    any view on working from prison ?

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    Mute Alan
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    May 15th 2025, 10:21 PM

    @Paul Garvey: already done via mobile phone

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    Mute Minnie Mouse
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    May 15th 2025, 10:46 PM

    Dennis O’Brien. Michael Lowry T.D., Why is that I cannot think of one of the without thinking of the other? Strange. Oh, wait…….Moriarty

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    Mute John Moore
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    May 16th 2025, 3:13 AM

    Hmmn how did Denis become a billionaire again? Maybe we could ask Michael Lowry. How he has the nerve to comment on anything let alone people’s work practices I don’t know. Some people just have no shame.

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    Mute rose sheridan
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    May 16th 2025, 6:49 AM

    @John Moore: Home is full of distractions…a few years back my gp left the consulting room ( where i was in mid consultation ( nothing serious) to greet his kids coming from school…normal (yes) focused (no)

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    Mute rose sheridan
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    May 16th 2025, 6:57 AM

    @John Moore: we need to listen to job creators(Denis OBrien &Michael O’Leary) a proportion of the ” remote” jobs will no longer exist in the near future for humans(AI) so who/what will be the future job creators?

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    Mute Kevin O'Brien
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    May 15th 2025, 11:38 PM

    I work in hospitality. So my personal experience doesn’t count. I can’t work remotely. My girlfriend has a good corporate position in a multinational bank. She works from home half the week, the other half she is 10 blocks away in the north American headquarters of said bank. She has some days at home that she has an easy and relaxed day and doesn’t have to be dialed in for the whole time, as long as the days work is done. At other times she is going from 7am, to deal with counterparts in Europe, and doesn’t stop for 12 hours or more. It will never apply across the board but if the company has put the procedures in place and they manage them correctly it is the way forward for certain industries

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    Mute JP
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    May 15th 2025, 8:31 PM

    Leave Denis O Brian aside. It’s obviously a good thing when civil service unions don’t want it to end. Another symptom of covid. So many people don’t want to work since then.

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    Mute Minnie Mouse
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    May 15th 2025, 10:48 PM

    The well fed head on the fkr

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    Mute S Os
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    May 16th 2025, 5:04 PM

    It’s always middle aged men with wives at home, helicopters and enough money to hire nannies and cheifs that think WFH is a bad thing. You will rarely hear a woman with kids , a full time job and an hour commute say its a waste of time. I have found you get more work and loyalty from WFH staff as they can be flexible, are less stressed from no commute and are saving a fortune doing from home exactly what they do in work

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    Mute Eugene Sol
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    May 16th 2025, 3:56 PM

    Brilliant article Dr. Catherine Conlon, my current employer is trying to push me out due to my wfh contract I could get during the covid time, nightmare things happening during 1.5 years, and it is terrible experience. Managers want to have slaves, see their heads, and this is main attribute of almost all companies. We live in time where people who manage other peoples, do not have enough skills and competences to do so, but the do. This frog like O’brien says us how to live and work, what to do and how spend time, I wish the world will show them the true, and allow people decide themselves where and how to work.

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    Mute S Suilleabhain
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    May 17th 2025, 1:58 AM

    Denis oBribe

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