Teachers' unions threaten national strike

Download article in original language : NL9812116NNL.DOC

In December 1998, teachers' trade unions in the Netherlands threatened to launch a national strike. It appears unlikely that the rift between the unions' demand for a 6.25% pay rise and the 2.25% offer by the Minister of Education can be bridged.

Teachers' trade unions threatened to launch a national strike on 16 December 1998, before the start of formal negotiations on the new collective agreements for 350,000 teachers. The unions' demand for a 6.25% pay rise is in stark contrast with the offer by Education Minister Loek Hermans of a 2.25% rise, phased in over a period of 18 months. The unions were so infuriated by the Minister's offer that they declared a national strike immediately after their very first meeting with negotiators. Two unions affiliated to the FNV confederation, AbvaKabo and Algemene Onderwijsbond (AOb), called for their members to cease work on 16 December. The two other unions involved - the CNV-affiliated Onderwijsbonden and the Ambtenarencentrum- were not yet prepared to take matters this far because, in their view, the timing of the strike so close to the Christmas period was inopportune. However, they indicated they would join strikes in January, failing any changes to the situation.

For strategic reasons, 16 December was chosen as the date for a possible strike. The unions demanded that the Minister should indicate whether there was room for pay rises at the next meeting scheduled for 16 December, and that he present a final offer on 17 December. The unions were due to break off negotiations, failing any changes in the Minister's position. At the beginning of December, both parties agreed to set up three committees to assess the various points of contention: below-average teachers' salaries; heavy workloads for school heads; and the consequences of the abolition of health insurance compensation. It was already feared at the time that the committees were set up that interpretations of the various problems would vary widely.

Unions were incensed both by what they saw as Minister Hermans' meagre proposal and by the fact that he appealed to their sense of responsibility in the face of the predicted downturn in economic growth. The Minister's actions are in line with the course set out by Prime Minister Wim Kok, who announced in an earlier speech that he expected unions to moderate their wage demands in the coming collective bargaining round. That appeal was also rejected by the FNV (NL9809198F).