Netherlands
Background information on industrial relations in Netherlands
- 28 Dec 2000
Netherlands: Labour unrest in Rotterdam docks<#PDF_LINK>November 2000 saw a wave of labour unrest at Rotterdam docks in the Netherlands. Industrial action ensued when the container shipping company, ECT proposed a reorganisation that could entail the loss of 100-125 jobs, while HRS, another container shipping firm, filed for bankruptcy after instituting insolvency proceedings, with the possible loss of 220 jobs.
- 28 Dec 2000
Netherlands: FNV seeks 4% wage increase in 2001<#PDF_LINK>In November 2000, the Dutch Trade Union Federation (FNV) set out its demands for the upcoming collective bargaining round, calling for a 4% wage increase, along with 0.5% for other terms of employment. Its largest affiliates are in agreement, adding demands such as profit-sharing and a a "13th-month" payment.
- 28 Dec 2000
Netherlands: Proposals to change dismissals law<#PDF_LINK>In November 2000, a government-appointed committee issued its recommendations on amending Dutch dismissals law. It proposes ending the current "dual system" by omitting the current test for "reasonable cause" before dismissal occurs. The new system is designed to bring Dutch legislation into line with that of other EU countries. The recommendation was presented to the social partners in the bipartite Labour Foundation. The response from employers' associations was overwhelmingly positive, but trade unions reacted less enthusiastically, questioning whether the new policy offers employees sufficient security.
- 28 Dec 2000
Netherlands: 2000 Annual Review for the Netherlands<#PDF_LINK>This record reviews 2000's main developments in industrial relations in the Netherlands.
- 28 Nov 2000
Netherlands: New proposal to reduce influx of disability and unemployment benefit claimants<#PDF_LINK>In October 2000, the Dutch Secretary of State for Social Affairs announced a plan aimed at restricting the number of claimants of unemployment benefit and WAO occupational disability benefit. The duration and amount of benefits would in future be based on the employment history of claimants, rather than their age. The parties in the coalition government and social partners are divided in their response. Meanwhile, a committee established by the government is looking elsewhere for a workable solution to problem of the increasing influx of WAO recipients.
- 28 Nov 2000
Netherlands: Supervisory control in large companies due to change<#PDF_LINK>The debate in the Netherlands on supervisory control within large companies resulted in a provisional compromise in October 2000 within the tripartite Social and Economic Council (SER). The Council has recommended changes to the current system whereby shareholders and works councils nominate members of the supervisory board. Although supported by trade unions and employer organisations, as well as a majority of the Lower House of parliament, the compromise triggered much opposition elsewhere.
- 28 Oct 2000
Netherlands: Social partners dissatisfied with distribution of financial windfalls in 2001 budget<#PDF_LINK>The Dutch government's 2001 budget, announced in September 2000, will use a major surplus to ease the tax and contribution burden on companies and individuals, accelerate repayment of government debt, and provide extra resources for the public sector. Nonetheless, the social partners are dissatisfied and feel that investments and tax and contribution cuts are still distributed unevenly. While employers are calling for additional investment in physical infrastructure, the unions believe that problems in the public sector are not being taken seriously enough.
- 28 Oct 2000
Netherlands: Position of works councils examined<#PDF_LINK>The year 2000 marks the 50th anniversary of the introduction of works councils in the Netherlands. A recent extensive survey among works councils and managers finds that the works council has since become a widely accepted institution. At the same time, however, the position of the works council is threatened by a number of developments.
- 28 Oct 2000
Netherlands: Wildcat strikes against railway organisation plan<#PDF_LINK>September 2000 saw a number of wildcat strikes by employees at Dutch Railways (NS) against management's latest plans to streamline the organisation. The largest rail workers' union, Allied Unions, did not officially support the strikes.
- 28 Sep 2000
Netherlands: Public servants' union withdraws opposition to longer working week<#PDF_LINK>In August 2000, the Dutch public service workers' union, Abvakabo, withdrew its opposition to employees working for longer than 36 hours a week in some circumstances, though it continues to consider the current 36-hour week as the norm. This is in line with the findings of recent research among its members. Albeit cautiously, AbvaKabo has accepted the idea of "multiple choice" or "à la carte" collective agreements, within which individual employees may exercise greater choice as to their conditions of employment.
- 28 Sep 2000
Netherlands: Workplace abuse affects one in three employees<#PDF_LINK>One in three Dutch employees find themselves confronted with verbal abuse or aggression at the workplace or have experienced such in the past, while sexual harassment and ridicule are also common. These are the findings of research published in summer 2000, examining the effects of expanding the Working Conditions Act to include provisions on abuse and aggression in 1994. With the exception of large enterprises, few companies have taken protective measures against such behaviour.
- 28 Sep 2000
Netherlands: 13% pay increase for top managers criticised by unions<#PDF_LINK>While the average pay increase for Dutch workers amounted to 3.7% in 1999, top managers secured an average increase of 13% (excluding share-option schemes), it emerged in July 2000. Trade unions have called on employers to justify this development, which apparently contradicts their persistent calls for wage moderation. While the FNV union confederation will not respond by calling for a 13% pay increase for its members, it does believe that the time is ripe for all employees to share in favourable company results through share-option schemes.
- 28 Aug 2000
Netherlands: Proposal to give individual employees a say over working hours<#PDF_LINK>In July 2000, two Dutch political parties proposed new legislation to grant individual employees a greater say over their own working hours. The proposal garnered support from the trade unions and the majority in the Lower House of parliament, but ran into opposition from employers' associations.
- 28 Aug 2000
Netherlands: FNV union confederation champions share-option schemes for employees<#PDF_LINK>In its draft memorandum on employment conditions for 2001, issued in July 2000, the Netherlands' FNV trade union confederation is seeking share-option schemes for all employees. Reactions to the proposal have been largely positive.
- 28 Aug 2000
Netherlands: Rising number of female WAO recipients raises issue of prevention<#PDF_LINK>In summer 2000, it became clear that increasing numbers of young people, and especially women, are now claiming WAO disability benefit in the Netherlands, and that they are suffering disproportionately from psychological complaints. These trends have caused some alarm among the the government and social partners, and the response is to stress prevention of sickness and disability, taking into account gender differences.
- 28 Jul 2000
Netherlands: Managers at listed companies obliged to reveal salaries<#PDF_LINK>In June 2000, the Dutch cabinet announced that it will introduce legislation to oblige companies listed on the stock exchange to reveal the salaries of individual managers.
- 28 Jul 2000
Netherlands: Separate collective agreements signed for most large banks<#PDF_LINK>At the close of 1999, the sector-wide collective agreement for the Dutch banking sector ended. By the end of June 2000, all major banks except ING had reached company agreements.
- 28 Jul 2000
Netherlands: 2000 collective bargaining round progresses relatively quietly<#PDF_LINK>The average wage increase amounted to 3.4% in the most important collective agreements concluded in the Netherlands' 2000 collective bargaining round up until the end of June. It is noteworthy that numerous agreements now include agreements on performance-based payment in some form. It is also evident from a report published by the Labour Inspectorate that more and more agreements include provisions on the integration and reintegration of partially disabled people, employability, job opportunities and flexible pension schemes.
- 28 Jun 2000
Netherlands: Trade union finances in the spotlight<#PDF_LINK>In 2000, the Netherlands' Christian Trade Union Federation (CNV) is undergoing a major reorganisation in the face of financial problems. At the same time, CNV plans to change the relationship between itself, its affiliated unions and the members, and to change "outdated" aspects of its organisation and operations. The larger Dutch Trade Union Federation (FNV) and its affiliated unions have already been through a period of cost-cutting and are now achieving above-average financial results, based on successful investments.
- 28 Jun 2000
Netherlands: Government proposes to make employers meet one-third of childcare costs<#PDF_LINK>In May 2000, the Dutch government announced plans to to make employers pay a third of their employees' childcare costs. It is proposed that a legal requirement to this effect will be implemented if employers and trade unions do not include such provisions in collective agreements within three years. Given the increasing number of women participating in the labour force, the intention is to institute a basic support structure for childcare. The VNO-NCW national employers' organisation is adamantly opposed to the plan.
- 28 Jun 2000
Netherlands: Rising number of disability benefit claimants sparks more stringent policy<#PDF_LINK>In mid-2000, the rising number of disability benefit claimants in the Netherlands prompted the Lower House of parliament to encourage the State Secretary of Social Affairs to make renewed efforts to address the issue. Indeed one of the ruling coalition parties joined forces with one of the opposition parties in a bid to stem the influx of disability benefit claimants. In response, the State Secretary proposed more stringent and extensive medical examinations for claimants, along with sanctions for employers guilty of inactivity in this area. Employers' associations believe that employers are being unjustly held accountable, while the FNV trade union confederation believes that more attention should be paid to more effective reintegration into work during the first year of sickness.
- 28 May 2000
Netherlands: Whistleblowing under debate<#PDF_LINK>In April 2000, the FNV trade union confederation collected the experiences of Dutch "whistleblowers -" employees who expose abuses in their company - and received a notable 8,000 responses. Half of the responses came from government employees, and earlier in 2000, the Minister of the interior presented an "integrity memorandum" on whistleblowing by such workers, following a trade union request.
- 28 Apr 2000
Netherlands: RSI threatens to become leading work-related illness<#PDF_LINK>Repetitive strain injury (RSI) seems to be affecting increasing numbers of Dutch employees. Research indicates that in 1999 nearly 30% of the workforce experienced RSI complaints. In 1998, the Dutch Trade Union Federation (FNV) made the illness the subject of an information campaign and secondary preventative measures.
- 28 Apr 2000
Netherlands: Employment for asylum-seekers and people from ethnic minorities under debate<#PDF_LINK>The issues of employment for asylum-seekers and people from ethnic minorities are under discussion in the Netherlands in early 2000. Although research indicates that many employers are failing to comply with legislation aimed at stimulating ethnic minority participation in the labour market, a number of them are seeking increased employment opportunities for asylum-seekers. The FNV trade union confederation and the Central Body for Asylum-Seekers Relief (COA) support efforts to expand employment for asylum-seekers.
- 28 Apr 2000
Netherlands: Mergers, takeovers and employee participation<#PDF_LINK>Dutch legislation governing employee participation during mergers and takeovers is under pressure in 2000. Far-reaching internationalisation has certainly contributed, but new legislation, especially concerning hostile takeovers, has also served to tighten the screws. We examine the powers of the works council and trade unions, with specific reference to new legislation.
- 28 Apr 2000
Netherlands: Supreme Court imposes limits on employee participation and right to strike<#PDF_LINK>In two judgments in early 2000, the Dutch Supreme Court imposed a degree of restriction on the practice of employee participation. Government sector works councils do not enjoy the right of participation in reaching political decisions and, in general, works councils possess no authority if primary terms and conditions of employment are at stake. According to a third judgment, the right to strike is limited to cases in which it is used as a final measure.
- 28 Mar 2000
Netherlands: Bargaining round opens<#PDF_LINK>The Netherlands' first major collective agreement of 2000 was reached at Akzo Nobel in February. Elsewhere, agreement on new settlements for the education sector and provincial government appears unlikely in the near future.
- 28 Mar 2000
Netherlands: Flexible pay disputes and decentralisation are key trends in bargaining<#PDF_LINK>In the Netherlands' 2000 collective bargaining round, larger employers are seeking more flexible pay systems, while trade unions resolutely oppose virtually all such arrangements. Meanwhile, the tendency towards decentralisation in the setting of terms and conditions of employment seems to be continuing, as evinced by the collapse of the sectoral agreement for banking and the growing role of works councils.
- 28 Feb 2000
Netherlands: Cabinet and social partners reach compromise on new social security structure<#PDF_LINK>In January 2000, the Dutch social partners and the government reached a compromise on a new structure for the social security system, under which the social partners will assume a larger role in formulating policy on reintegrating unemployed and disabled people into the labour market. The cabinet's proposal to place the payment of benefits to these two groups, and responsibility for implementation, entirely in the public domain remained unchanged.
- 28 Feb 2000
Netherlands: Part-time Employment Act seeks to promote combining work and care<#PDF_LINK>In February 2000, the lower house of the Dutch Parliament passed the Part-time Employment Act, thus awarding employees the right to increase or reduce their working hours. The legislation is part of the framework Work and Care Act, which brings together numerous existing and new leave provisions and seeks to facilitate the reconciliation of employment and family care responsibilities. Research suggests that around 30% of Dutch couples would like to change the scope of their personal working week, and the government considers them an important target group for the new Act, with the aim that the same proportion of men and women will work part-time and share care duties. The new Act may well succeed in making employees with care responsibilities the standard reference point in companies' working time policy, something which the 1996 Working Time Act has so far failed to accomplish.
- 28 Jan 2000
Netherlands: Violence against staff under debate on railways<#PDF_LINK>Increasing numbers of violent attacks against the staff of Dutch Railways have been a cause for concern among employees for some years. Following two high-profile assaults in December 1999 and January 2000 - the first of which sparked a wildcat strike - discussions between management and trade unions have resulted in an agreement on a series of anti-aggression measures.
- 28 Jan 2000
Netherlands: Multinational reorganisation decisions increasingly removed from union and works council influence<#PDF_LINK>In late 1999, labour unrest hit three Dutch-based multinationals, Philips, Akzo Nobel and Corus, as a result of reorganisation decisions no longer being made in consultation with local trade unions and works councils. Decision-making had shifted to a higher level, rendering discussions between local management and employee representatives inconsequential. Such conflicts are seen as a break with the consensus-based Dutch" polder model", which places value on both employer and employee interests. Corporate policy now seems to place increasing weight on shareholder interests.