Negotiations to resume in nursing home and home care sector
31 August 2010
Collective bargaining over the VVT nursing home and home care agreement will resume on 14 September following informal talks between the unions and employers over the summer period. Both sides think that there is now scope for an agreement with a key point being provisions on age-related working time to improve work-life balance.
Read more at > FNV Abvakabo (NL)
And at > CNV Publieke Zaak (NL)
And at > NU’91 (NL)
Union monitors conditions in care homes
17 August 2010
The FNV Abvakabo public services union has set up an email address for workers to report examples of poor quality care in care homes. The union says that its members are reporting cases where employers cut costs by failing to employ adequate numbers of workers on shifts or by not employing properly trained staff. Workers are under pressure to take on extra responsibilities or work longer hours.
Read more at > FNV Abvakabo (NL)
Equal treatment ruling on part-time workers’ pay while training
17 August 2010
The Equal Treatment Commission has ruled that part-time workers should be fully paid for any work-related training they do. The case involved a part timer covered by the care sector agreement who worked 16 hours a week as a care assistant but who undertook a training course of 28.8 hours a week. The Commission agreed with the trade union that payment should be on the basis of the 28.8 hours and not on the basis of a special rate for trainees in the collective agreement. In this case it meant the monthly salary should be €1383 a month rather than €1060.
Read more at > FNV Abvakabo (NL)
Unions mobilise members in care sector
4 August 2010
The FNV-Abvakabo and NU’91 public services unions are calling on their members to mobilise in support of their claims for a new collective agreement in the nursing and home care sector. The unions’ demands are not identical but include salary increase of 1.5% backdated to 1 March 2010; keep night work voluntary for those aged 55-plus; maintain current compensation for working irregular and unsocial hours; improved training agreement; higher compensation for standby duty and better schedules for maternity care.
Read more at > FNV-Abvakabo (NL)
And at > NU’91 (NL)
Unions prepare for action in nursing and care home dispute
21 July 2010
The employer organisations in the nursing and care home sector failed to respond to a trade union deadline for negotiations and unions are now considering what action to take to put pressure on the employers. Sticking points include working hours and night work for older workers. The unions want a 1.5% pay increase and 2% of the payroll set aside each year for education and training initiatives. The unions are considering the kind of action, such as go-slows on administrative tasks, that can be taken that will minimise the impact on patients.
Read more at >FNV Abvakabo (NL)
And at > CNV Publieke Zaak (NL)
And at > NU’91 (NL)
Employers want pay freeze in care sector
5 July 2010
Unions are calling on employers in the care sector to respond to their demands and deliver a pay increase in the current negotiations. The FNV Abvakabo services union is warning of industrial action while the CNV Publieke Zaak union is co-ordinating an email campaign among its members to put pressure on the employers. Abvakabo is also concerned about the employers trying to undermine some existing conditions of employment in relation to working time for older workers and allowances for unsocial hours.
Read more at > FNV Abvakabo (NL)
And at > CNV Publieke Zaak (NL)
Trade union members back pension age agreement
5 July 2010
A ballot of members of the FNV trade union confederation produced a large majority in favour of an agreement in principle with AOW employers’ organization over changes to pension ages. The agreement is against the background of government plans to increase retirement ages. The deal with the AOW allows for an increase in pension age from 65 to 66 2020 but there is flexibility to allow people to retire earlier on a lower pension.
Read more at > FNV (NL)
Waste agreement protects purchasing power
21 June 2010
Unions and employers in the waste and environment sector have agreed in principal on a 12-month deal that provides a 1.1% increase and so keeps pay rising in line with inflation. The agreement also includes an amount equal to 0.4% of the paybill that will fund initiatives relating to recruitment and promotion.
Read more at > Abvakabo (NL)
Unions back agreement in principal to end long-running local government dispute
1 June 2010
After more than three months of targeted industrial action unions in the local government sector have concluded in principle a new two-year agreement. The deal means increases of 1.5% this year and 0.5% next year. End of year bonuses will also go up by 0.5% with a higher increase for the lower paid. The agreement also includes a range of other elements including job security, measures to tackle workplace violence and initiatives on work-life balance.
Read more at > FNV Abvakabo (NL)
And at > CNV Publieke Zaak (NL)
Provincial government dispute set to end
1 June 2010
Unions and employers look to have resolved the conflict over pay in the provincial government sector after more than a year of negotiations and campaigning. The agreement runs from 1 June 2009 to 1 June 2011 and includes pay increases of 1.2% backdated to 1 January 2010 and a lump sum worth 0.5% of salary paid on 1 June to compensate for no pay increase during the last six months of 2009. There will be another rise of 0.7% on 1 January 2011. The agreement also includes provisions on training and employment of disabled workers.
Read more at > FNV Abvakabo (NL)
And at > CNV Publieke Zaak (NL)
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