KNV can no longer follow the thinking of the trade unions.
After nine rounds of negotiations for a new collective labor agreement for Healthcare Transport and Taxi, trade unions FNV and CNV are pulling the plug from the negotiations, after the employers had made a final offer. According to Meindert Gorter, FNV Zorgvervoer en Taxi, the collective labor agreement negotiations with employers' organization KNV have always been difficult, but now really dramatic.
On the other side of the table the employers. They call for a historic wage offer to be made to the employees, which shows understanding for the situation of the employees and also expresses appreciation for the great effort in these difficult times of staff shortages. According to the collective labor agreement negotiator for employers, Martijn Kersing, unions ensured that the employees were given unrealistic expectations of the new collective agreement to be concluded.
"As employers, we saw that we had to focus on appreciation for our employees and on a new influx of drivers. We converted that into an unprecedentedly high collective labor agreement offer. We hope that the unions will accept our final offer. Only then can we actually achieve the pay increase. implementation as of January 1. The clarity that this provides is important for everyone, not only for employees and entrepreneurs, but also for clients, because they are charged for the increased costs, for example via the NEA index."
Employer organization Royal Dutch Transport has not had the easiest period. The problems to come to a new Collective Labor Agreement are not only great within the Healthcare Transport and Taxi sector, the Entrepreneurs Association Bus Transport Netherlands department is also baffled about the rejection of the collective agreement final offer and the announced strike by FNV Toer and CNV Vakmensen. According to BVN secretary Carlo Cahn, one can thinking of the unions do not follow. “They are asking much more than is healthy for the companies and the demands are backed by unsound arguments.”
NEA index
Actions by the unions are almost unavoidable coming at a very inopportune time. At the end of October, the NEA index that is leading for most price increases is determined. The clarity that this offers is important for everyone. Not only for employees and entrepreneurs, but also for clients. After all, they are passed on the increased costs, for example via the NEA index.
According to KNV, the unions have started negotiations with unprecedented demands that would result in an increase of more than 40% in costs. After the unions scrapped a number of demands, each round of negotiations demanded more. The entrepreneurs offer more than 12%. The unions must have responded before October 25, otherwise employers would suspend negotiations indefinitely.
Actions
The unions did not want to wait for this deadline and, after receiving the final offer, sent a message to the members that the plugs have been pulled from the negotiations. For them, actions seem unavoidable. For example, the employer does not want to talk about the wrongful withholding of wages for breaks that the drivers have not been able to take. 'An important point for the drivers, because it feels so unfair', says Gorter. Until now, employers only want to talk about a wage increase of 6 percent on average.
"Employers call it a historic offer, but what world do you live in if you offer so little in these troubled times?"
The unions demand a collective labor agreement with a term of one year with a wage increase of 12,5% as of 1 January 2023, while the employer does not go further than a two-year term with an 8% wage increase as of January 1, 2023 and 4% as of January 1, 2024. In the negotiations on continued payment in the event of illness, the parties do not come closer together. The employer maintains a maximum of 80% continued payment of wages for the first two weeks. The unions want 100% continued payment from day one.
Trade unions FNV and CNV will consult their members in the next two weeks. Gorter: “I expect that we will have to prepare for an ultimatum and the actions that may result from it. I hope that it will not come to that and that the petition we are offering on October 21 will change the employer's mind.”
