Insurance unions reject employers' proposal for renegotiation of collective agreement

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The trade unions have recently rejected a proposal by employers to renegotiate the Luxembourg insurance sector collective agreement. Such a move would have led to the adoption of the pay system used in banking, based on criteria linked to employees' work performance.

The three representative trade unions at national level, the OGB-L, LCGB and FEP, have recently rejected an employers' proposal to renegotiate the collective agreement for employees in the insurance sector. The insurance agreement has always had strong parallels with the banking sector agreement, and it is only since 1993, when banking opted for a collective agreement with pay based on criteria related to employees' work performance (LU9706113N), that a fundamental divergence has opened up between the two sectors.

The unions have now turned down the insurance employers' proposals because they too want to introduce performance-related pay, along with a "transitional" agreement for 1998. While only one bonus would be tied to performance in the initial phase, the second phase - starting on 1 January 1999 - would involve altering the entire salary system to mirror that in the banking agreement.

The three unions rejected the employers' proposal, claiming that there have been negative experiences associated with this type of performance-related pay system. They have announced their intention to draw up a list of joint claims to be presented to the employers' federation. Industrial action threatens if the issue is not resolved in the near future.