Netherlands
Final offer for regional administration approved
Municipal workers set to receive average pay rise of 7.64%
New collective agreement for hospital workers
FNV campaigns to abolish unfair youth wages
Strike suspended in hospitals, childcare deal rejected
Pharmacy workers win major wage increase
Netherlands: Wage increase for social employment agency workers
Netherlands: Pharmacy workers strike for fair pay and better conditions
Netherlands: New agreement for forest and nature workers
Netherlands: An ultimatum by pharmacy workers
Netherlands: Challenges Ahead for Central Government Employees
Recent developments in the central government sector have raised significant concerns among FNV members . The new government’s coalition agreement introduces sweeping measures including a mandated 22% reduction in operational costs and a wage freeze for 2026 for state workers, signaling tough times ahead. The agreement seeks to reverse the sector's recent growth, potentially impacting staffing levels and core responsibilities. This shift could exacerbate already high workloads for civil servants, despite positive steps like limiting external hiring to control costs. FNV emphasizes the
Hospital staff survey backs shorter working week
The FNV trade union has surveyed hospital workers and found that 82% believe that a shorter full-time standard working week of 30 or 32 hours (for the same money) would have a positive effect on attracting and retaining staff. Over 3,350 employees in hospitals and university medical centres responded. The union points out that the workload in the healthcare sector is at an all-time high and the expected staff shortages are set to increase in the coming years. The FNV has been arguing for years for the need to make the work more attractive and more than nine out of 10 in the survey expect a
Union set to mobilise pharmacy workers over pay
The FNV trade union has called a national action meeting for 1 June for workers covered by the pharmacies collective agreement. This follows the collapse of negotiations after the fifth round of bargaining with the Mediq employers’ organisation which made a pay offer of 4%, well below the level sought by the union. The FNV says that this not only fails to ensure protection of workers’ purchasing power but also ignores the challenges facing the sector with staffing shortages, high workloads and many instances of aggression from customers.
State sector deal delivers higher pay and action on harassment
Members of the FNV trade union are currently voting on whether to accept a new collective agreement covering central government. The deal includes a €1200 one-off payment for full-time employees to compensate for inflation paid in May this year even before the current agreement expires. On 1 July there will be an 8.5% pay increase plus €50 and an increase in the individual choice budget by 0.13% to 16.50% of the salary. A one-off payment of €800 will follow in November 2024 and a further payment of €350 on 1 July 2025. The one-off payments add up to €2350 (pro rata for part timers). The