Civil servants take action against employers’ zero line

The Dutch Trade Union Federation and the Christian Trade Union Federation will be mobilising against the proposal made by public sector employers to freeze wages in 2010. The terms and conditions of employment enjoyed by civil servants working for municipalities and provincial authorities will be affected. For the employer organisations, the wage demands of 1%, coupled with the same level of investment in training and employment opportunities, are irresponsibly high.

The Dutch Trade Union Federation (Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging, FNV) and the Christian Trade Union Federation (Christelijk Nationaal Vakverbond, CNV) will be mobilising against the proposal made by employers in the public sector to freeze the wages of civil servants in 2010. One-day rotating strikes will be held across the Netherlands, with support from provincial public services to municipal refuse collection services. The terms and conditions of employment enjoyed by civil servants working for municipalities and provincial authorities will be affected, impacting on about 200,000 employees. Employees of the water control authorities may join the strike activity despite the fact that collective bargaining is underway in this subsector. At the start of February 2010, the national kick-off took place and management members started with a month-long rotating strike across the country.

The trade unions have rejected the employers’ wage offer of 0% as structurally unacceptable. The unions’ wage demand is in line with Dutch inflation in 2009 of 1%. According to the trade unions, the employers’ wage offer is certainly not in keeping with agreements reached in the April 2009 social agreement. In the social agreement, employers and employees sought to shape a common response to the economic crisis. In doing so, solidarity between those in employment, those receiving social benefits and those who have entered retirement was assumed as the premise. The most important pillar of the social agreement is wage moderation through the retention of spending power, in exchange for retaining job security and creating employment opportunities. According to the unions, government employers are now breaching these agreements.

Keeping step with inflation

Along with FNV, CNV hopes to achieve a wage increase of 1% in 2010. Additionally, the trade union federation would like to see employers invest 1% of the wage sum in training and promoting employment opportunities. FNV already shared its intention of pursuing a wage demand of 1.25% to 2% towards the end of 2009. Moreover, in keeping with CNV’s demands, FNV is calling for agreements on training and employment opportunities. Employers who do not respond to the last two demands will be confronted with an FNV wage demand of 2%.

Employers, united under the Confederation of Netherlands Industries and Employers (Vereniging van Nederlandse Ondernemingen-Nederlands Christelijk Werkgeversverbond, VNO-NCW) and the Dutch Federation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MKB-Nederland), have little to say about these demands. They believe that the trade unions’ wage demand is irresponsible. According to the employer organisations, conceding to such a demand will serve to increase the risk of losing employment opportunities. Along with the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, Piet Hein Donner, the employers would prefer to see a wage demand of closer to zero. According to Mr Donner, this level was also part of the agreement reached in March 2009. While attaching less importance to the wage demands, the general employers’ association (Algemene Werkgevers Vereniging Nederland, AWVN) emphasises the agreements reached on training investments (NL1002029I).

AWVN, which is affiliated to VNO-NCW and conducts collective bargaining on behalf of employers, believes that the wage demands are not unreasonable. Wages went up by an average of 3% in 2008; this figure has now dropped to 1.3%. Although AWVN does not believe that trade union involvement is irresponsible, it does emphasise that employability is the key element in collective bargaining. For AWVN, the new collective agreement for the metal and technology sector serves as a good example of a crisis-type collective agreement. It specifies that wages will only be raised by 1.5% in 2011. Furthermore, in 2010, employees will be given a one-off additional leave period of 3.5 days.

Correction for inflation in private sector

At electronics giant Philips, two FNV and CNV trade unions have concluded a collective agreement covering 15,000 employees, in which a 1.75% wage increase has been agreed. With effect from November 2010, employees will receive a 1% wage rise, followed by a further 0.75% in May 2011. The collective agreement has a term of 18 months. Agreement was also reached to uphold the redundancy plan and extend it by two years. Philips employees who lose their jobs will still receive dismissal compensation based on the former, more generous sub-district court formula.

A wage increase of 1.65% has also been agreed for the iron and steel industry covering the next 15-month period. Effective from 1 July 2010, wages will increase by 0.5%; from 1 January 2011, a further increase of 1.15% will follow. In addition, crisis measures will be introduced with the aim of retaining employment opportunities and stimulating training. A sum of €30 million will be earmarked for education and training in the years ahead. The parties have also agreed that by temporarily paying an additional premium, employers and employees will be able to maintain provisions for older employees. The retirement age of 61.5 years is slowly creeping up towards 62 years of age. At the multinational manufacturing corporation AkzoNobel, a wage increase of 1% was not at stake in the negotiations, which involved the issue of pension accrual for supernumerary employees above the age of 57 years. Until the retirement age of 62 years, pension accrual must be linked to wages – at least, this is what was agreed. The trade unions assert that older employees – now involving 160 supernumerary employees, with more expected to follow – may not suffer a reduction in their pensions.

Marianne Grünell, Hugo Sinzheimer Institute (HSI)