Unions step up campaign on pay

The FNV is taking further action in support of its demand for a 12% pay rise in the municipalities sector. A six-day strike by refuse collection staff in Rotterdam was set to begin on 15 February and a national demonstration was organised in Utrecht. The union has rejected as wholly inadequate an offer from the employers that would have delivered only 5% in February 2023 and 3% in April 2024. Meanwhile, action may follow in the hospitals sector if the NVZ employers’ organisation fails to meet a deadline to come up with a better pay offer. The FNV and NU’91 trade unions are calling for a pay

The ver.di trade union is organising further warning strikes following what it regards as a wholly inadequate pay offer from employers in federal and local government. The union is seeking a 10.5% pay increase with a minimum of €500 a month for the 2.5 million workers covered by the agreement. The employers, however, have offered only 3% by the end of 2023 and 2% in mid-2024 in what would be a 27-month agreement. There would also be lump sum payments of €1000 and €1500. The next steps in the campaign of warning strikes involve trainees and local transport workers. The third round of bargaining

Unions are working hard to build support for co-ordinated industrial action on 30 November in response to the government’s failure to negotiate properly over changes to pensions and to carry on with their plans to cut pension schemes affecting millions of public sector workers. The main civil service union PCS and the largest teaching union, NUT, already have approval for another one-day strike, following their action in June. Other unions, including UNISON, GMB, Unite and the FDA senior civil servants’ union, are now pushing for a “yes” vote in what is thought to be the biggest ever