New collective agreements for civil servants and towage workers signed following strike action

In April 2007, a new collective agreement to cover civil servants was signed in the wake of industrial action. Similarly, the ongoing conflict at the maritime company Smit Internationale has been resolved bu the signing of a new collective agreement for towage workers. The collective agreement for civil servants provides for a wage increase of more than 10% over a three-year period, while the agreement at Smit Internationale provides for wage increases in line with the rate of inflation.

Pay agreement for civil servants

A series of ‘relay strikes’ have been taking place at various government departments for many months now (NL0701069I). At the end of April 2007, the trade unions representing public sector workers reached agreement with the new Minister of Internal Affairs, Ms Guusje ter Horst. On the trade union side, signatories of the agreement included the civil servants’ unions AbvaKabo, affiliated to the Dutch Trade Union Federation (Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging, FNV), and Publieke Zaak, affiliated to the Christian Trade Union Federation (Christelijk Nationaal Vakverbond, CNV), as well as the civil servants’ federations Centrale voor Middelbare en Hogere Functionarissen (CMHF) and Ambtenarencentrale.

The collective agreement for civil servants essentially provides for a wage increase of 10.5% for the three-year period 2007–2009; the wage increase will be staggered, with an average pay rise of between 2% and 2.5% a year. Improving salaries of civil servants at government level is largely aimed at building up resources for what will become an annual 13th-month bonus payment. At present, the 120,000 civil servants working for the government only enjoy a marginal year-end bonus; under the new collective agreement, by the end of 2009, this bonus must represent 5.4% of the civil servants’ annual salary. In the years that follow, the trade union confederations and the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijsrelaties) wish to further increase the bonus to a fully-fledged 13th-month payment, totalling 8.33% of the annual wage. For this reason, the term of the collective agreement has been extended to almost four years, which gives the employer (in this instance the government) sufficient leeway to address the wage demands of the trade unions.

The unions’ demands were indeed higher than those finally agreed upon. At first, they wanted a one-year collective agreement specifying a wage increase of 2.5%, which was to take effect from January 2007. Additionally, they demanded that provisions be set aside for the 13th-month bonus payment at a far faster and, consequently, a more costly pace. Under the new agreement, the civil servants’ trade unions have accepted that the employees will have to foot the bill for part (0.5%) of the salary increase themselves. Furthermore, the unions have also accepted fewer days of paid personal leave.

Finally, the parties have reached agreement in relation to the current restructuring affecting government employees: cost savings of €750 million are to be made through 15,000 job cuts. It has been agreed that a premise of no forced redundancies will apply, and that alternative employment will be sought for civil servants whose posts are cut.

Agreement at Smit Internationale

At the private sector company, Smit Internationale, which provides maritime services, the ongoing conflict between the company’s management and employees drew to a close at the end of April 2007. The conflict was both fierce and protracted: the courts were involved and imposed a part-time strike ban on the employees (NL0704029I). The collective agreement was only reached following mediation: the employer and the Allied Unions (FNV Bondgenoten) negotiated a collective agreement with a term of three years. For the current calendar year, the parties agreed a wage increase of 3.3%, including an automatic price compensation. For the future, the agreement provides for wage increases in line with the country’s rate of inflation. Furthermore, in addition to the €2,000 Smit had already offered the towage workers, they will receive an extra once-off payment of €1,000. The management board of Smit has also agreed to contribute towards medical expenses.

In terms of other provisions, it is of particular significance that Smit and the trade unions reached agreement on the costs of the new partial occupational disability legislation. The employer had initially agreed to cover all the costs with respect to the most important section of the Work and Income According to Labour Capacity Act (Werk en Inkomen naar Arbeidsvermogen, WIA), which replaces the former Occupational Disability Insurance Act (Wet op de Arbeidsongeschiktheid, WAO). This meant that the occupational disability premium would have been entirely at the expense of the employer. However, agreement reached within the Labour Foundation (Stichting van de Arbeid) determined that the costs of the disability premium should be shared evenly between employer and employees.

Overall, the towage workers had to settle for less compared with their initial demands during the collective bargaining rounds. For example, Smit Internationale would not entertain the request for extra days off for older employees (employees aged 61 and 62 years were to have been granted one and two weeks of additional paid leave, respectively, to compensate for their having to purchase early retirement rights).

Marianne Grünell, Hugo Sinzheimer Institute (HSI)