Social Services, Local government, Netherlands

The FNV and other trade unions have negotiated a new collective agreement in provincial government which will now be subject to a ballot of members. If approved it will run for 18 months from 1 January 2024 to 30 June 2025. Employees will see an average increase in pay of more than 7.5% in two steps: an increase of €25 or 4.25% from 1 January 2024 and 2.5% from 1 September 2024. As of 1 January 2024, the minimum wage will be €16 gross per hour. There is a range of other changes, including a new internship allowance, changes to pensions and retirement, new procedure relating so social safety

The FNV trade union has negotiated a new agreement in the energy network sector covering around 17,500 employees which will deliver a pay increase of at least 10% over the next 18 months and a minimum wage of €16 an hour. As of 1 January 2024, employees will receive a wage increase of at least 7% but with a minimum of €275 for workers on the lower wage scales. There will be a further increase of 3% next year. Other benefits include six weeks of parental leave on full pay and improvements to early retirement and the social plan on restructuring. In addition, employers will pay a one-off

Trade unions in municipalities, including the FNV, have negotiated 15-month agreement that runs to 31 March 2025 and provides a 6% pay increase. There will be a 4.75% increase on 1 January followed by 1.25% on 1 October. While most lower paid employees are on €16 or above a few are still on the national minimum wage of €15.92. The FNV is committed to secure a higher minimum wage in local government. The agreement includes an additional day of non-statutory leave as of 1 January 2025, taking the total to eight. While the early retirement scheme is made more accessible, the union is disappointed

The FNV and other trade unions have suspended their industrial action and mobilisations in the youth care sector pending negotiations on the basis of an improved pay offer from the employers. This involves a pay increase of 8% on 1 January 2024 and 1.25% on 1 July 2024 with an additional lump sum of €400. There would then be a 3% increase for 2025 and inflation compensation to a maximum of 2.25%, if inflation is higher than 3%. The minimum wage will rise to €15 per hour and the working-from-home allowance to €3 per day. This compares to the previous offer of a 6.7% increase and additional 2%

The FNV and other trade unions have set a deadline of 1 November for employers in the youth sector to come up with an improved pay offer or they will aim for a major mobilisation on 20 November. This would be the 10th time in recent years that unions have had to take to the streets to push their demands. The unions argue that the employers’ “final offer” would only lead to more workers leaving the sector and further increases to staff shortages. The biggest stumbling block during the negotiations was inflation compensation for 2023. Following just a 1% pay increase on 3 January, the unions are

The VNG local government employers’ organisation has come up with an offer of a 4% pay rise for the year 2024. The FNV trade union has acknowledged this as an opening to proper negotiations, it says it falls some way short of its main demand for an 8% rise pay increase on top of a flat-rate €100 increase. The VNG is also yet to respond on a number of other issues including leave and early retirement. The negotiations resume on 30 October, when the FNV will also raise concerns around workloads. Meanwhile, the University Medical Centres employer organisation has yet to come up with a specific

Negotiations for a new agreement in local government are set to begin on 22 September and a survey of over 21000 workers (50% union members and 50% non-members) by the FNV and other unions reveals increasing dissatisfaction with pay, particularly among the lower paid. In 2020, 55% of respondents said that they were (very) satisfied with the total income (pay and allowances) but this fell to 42% in 2022 and has now dropped to 39%. Among the lower paid, 35% of employees in scales 1 to 5 are (very) dissatisfied. The survey is part of the preparation and consultation process to make workers aware

Members of the FNV trade union have voted by a large majority to endorse the new collective agreement covering 60000 social workers that provides for pay increases totalling 15% over the next two years. The agreement also includes measures to tackle excessive workloads with permanent employees having more control over their work schedule and having precedence over freelancers. Wages increased by 7% on 1 July and there will be two further increases – one of 7% on 1 January 2024 and then one of 4% on 1 July 2024. From 1 January 2024, every permanent employee will receive at least €14 gross per

The 200000 workers covered by the disability care collective agreement are getting a phased pay increase of 10% on top of the 3.2% already paid in May this year, negotiated by the FNV and NU’91 trade unions. There will be two increases of 3% on 1 September and 1 December (both with a €80 minimum) and in 2024, there will be two further increases of 2% in June and December (both with a minimum of €55). The travel allowance will be doubled from 8 cents to 16 cents per kilometer. Meanwhile, after difficult negotiations, unions at the Sanguin blood services non-profit company, including FNV, have

The FNV trade union and the RTL Nieuws broadcaster have published a survey covering nearly 2300 workers in nursing and home care that shows that work is becoming increasingly difficult and has to be done with fewer and fewer colleagues. The union argues that this poses a threat to the quality of care as well as the safety of employees and those they care for. The FNV says that as a result of government policy people are receiving care at home for longer and so by the time they move to a care home they often need more complex care. Waiting lists for care home places have risen from 8000 in 2008

The FNV trade union organised a national action on 25 May in their campaign to secure a 10% pay rise in 2023 for workers who provide support to people with disabilities. This would be in addition to the pay increases that apply in the existing agreement that runs to the end of January 2024. However, the VGN employer’s organisation made only slight changes to its previous offer that would provide for a 10% increase but over two years. The FNV argues that the employers have wasted by making very minor changes to the offer. The union is also disappointed that the 4% pay increase the employer

The FNV trade union has negotiated a 10% pay rise for the 100000 workers in mental health care on top of the pay increases already set in the current collective agreement. Mental health workers themselves had supported the union’s demands by starting a petition that got more than 10000 signatures in a very short space of time. There will be an additional salary increase of 5% in 2023 (minimum €150) on top of the previously agreed 2% (minimum €60). There will be a 2% wage increase (minimum €60) in 2024, followed by an additional 5%, 4% of which is structural (minimum €120) and 1% is one-off and

The FNV is seeking pay rises for workers in both the mental health and eldercare sectors with actions planned for this month. In eldercare, on 12 May, the union has organised an online “talk show” bringing together politicians, employers and workers to discuss how to make the sector more attractive. On 25 May, the FNV will present its pay demands to the employers, Actiz and Zorghuisnl, as part of a national action in Utrecht. Meanwhile, in the mental health sector the union, along with NU’91, is pushing for a pay offer to cover the surge in inflation, although the current collective agreement

The FNV trade union is urging workers in disability care to get involved in a range of actions to support the push for an additional pay rise this year. The collective agreement currently provides for a 3.2% but the union has convinced the VGN employers’ organisation to meet on 9 May to discuss a further increase to help workers cope with the surge in inflation. The FNV wants members to highlight their situation at work and on social media in the lead up the meeting. There will then be a consultation with members on 10 May to decide how to respond to the employers’ offer.

Following consultations with their members, the FNV and NU'91 trade unions have rejected a pay offer from the ActiZ and Zorghuisnl employer organisations in the care sector. The sector, employing 470,000 workers is covered by a collective agreement running from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2023 but negotiations were opened over a salary adjustment because of the surge in inflation. The employers’ offer of a 5% increase for both this year and next year has been rejected by the unions who point to the 10% pay rises that have been awarded in healthcare. They are also unhappy that the employers