Water, Procurement, Sweden, Netherlands

The FNV trade union has negotiated a new agreement covering workers in the water sector which is now out for approval by members. It provides a 4.25% increase as of 1 January 2024, along with €50 on the full-time salary. There will be a further pay increase of 2.5% in January 2025. This marks an improvement on the employers’ previous offer and follows some extra pressure from the presentation of a workers’ petition. The new salary structure now has a minimum wage of €16 an hour – a key union target. The collective agreement runs until 1 July 2025.

With a focus on pay and the need to secure an agreement that can help workers deal with the cost-of-living crisis, the FNV trade union has negotiated an overall pay increase of 8% for water board employees but with a flat-rate element that will mean pay rises by 10% for lower paid workers. There is a one-off payment of €1,000 gross in December 2022 and then increases of €125 and 2.5% on salaries in as of 1 January 2023. There will be a further increase of 2.5% on 1 July 2023. There will be other increases on allowances. The structural increases will mean a minimum hourly wage of €14 will apply

The FNV trade union reports that pay rates for water authority workers are set to increase by EUR 50, backdated to 1 January 2021. There will also be two increases of 0.5% to the individual choice budget (IKB) as of 1 January and 1 July. The union says that on average, this amounts to a 2.05% salary increase. The personal basic budget (PBB) will be increased from EUR 5,000 to at least EUR 6,000 for five years. The IKB and PBB can be used to exchange salary for other benefits such as annual leave. The new agreement also includes provisions on standby duty allowance and parental leave

Water board employees have voted to accept a new collective agreement that includes a 3.5% pay increase backdated to 1 January this year with a further 3.25% rise as of 1 April 2019. The deal also includes a EUR 500 lump sum payment and changes to the individual choice budget worth a further 0.75% of salary. The individual choice budget allows workers to choose how they take improvements in pay and conditions - for example through increased leave or other benefits. The FNV trade union will also be talking to management about performance-related pay.

(April 2017) Beginning this month the municipal services union Kommunal will be investigating the employment and working conditions of cleaners, looking at their employment status, working hours as well as health and safety problems. The union will carry out a survey as well as making workplace visits to talk to workers and assess how they are affected by what are often seen as the main problems facing the sector - the impact of privatisation, lack of control over work - but also good examples where workers do have more control over working time and other working conditions.

(March 2017) After years of campaigning, workers in social care might see some respite from the race to the bottom on contract costs and pay. The government has approved an order in council that requires municipalities to adopt fair and equitable rates for home care. This should end the situation where local authorities were issuing tenders which providers could only meet by cutting costs and for workers this meant either losing their job or seeing a massive cut in pay.