Major employer organisations forge an alliance

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Two of the most significant Dutch employers’ organisations, VNO-NCW and MKB-Nederland have forged an alliance. The move was mainly prompted by overlapping interests, dual membership and efficiency gains. Following the drive to achieve a good position in recent years and putting paid to mutual differences, the new scenario is one of unity. The trade unions have yet to respond with anything but reticence.

Two of the most significant employers’ organisations, the Confederation of Dutch Industries and Employers (VNO-NCW) and the Dutch Federation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (Midden en Kleinbedrijf-Nederland, MKB-Nederland), have forged an alliance. The third employers’ organisation, the Dutch Confederation of Agriculture and Horticulture (LTO Nederland), appears to be staying out of the alliance for the time being. The alliance stands to benefit the interests of the combined membership base. The cooperative relationship offers cost benefits for all members. A more efficient and effective lobby is also envisaged through better cooperation in bodies such as the Social and Economic Council (Sociaal-Economische Raad, SER) and the Labour Foundation (Stichting van de Arbeid, STAR), in which both organisations are represented. MKB-Nederland and VNO-NCW have now convergence following a number of years of focusing on positioning. The unsuccessful 2004 Autumn Consultation with government and the trade union movement resulted in the employers’ organisations adopting a divided stance. In this context, VNO-NCW supported the controversial government plans to push through cutbacks in terms of early retirement and life-cycle leave arrangements. MKB-Nederland sided with the unions in their rejection of the cost-cutting measures.

While VNO-NCW also counts members from the small and medium-sized business sector, the association is mainly identified with large-scale industry. Multinationals like Shell and Akzo are among the membership base. MKB-Nederland focuses solely on the small and medium-sized business sector and counts 135 trade associations and 250 local business associations, together good for some 186,000 businesses and institutions. The membership bases of the two organisations overlap, sometimes resulting in dual membership such as in the construction and installation sectors. Other businesses fail to see a difference between the two organisations, enjoy membership with one of them, and especially hope to see a strong, unequivocal lobby in relation to the political arena. But overlapping interests and membership bases cannot be used to gloss over the fact that MKB-Nederland mainly represents the small and medium-sized business sector, which has to deal with completely different challenges than large corporations for example. What’s more, MKB-Nederland also acts as the voice for the group of small-scale businesses. The intended alliance has raised fears among the members of MKB-Nederland in particular that their interests will be overlooked. However, MKB-Nederland executives believe that large-scale industry sooner stands to benefit from the small and medium-sized businesses. There is more sympathy for them in terms of both politics and society at large.

The trade union federations are either reserved or mixed in their response. It is of strategic significance that the employers’ organisations can no longer be set up against one another. The Dutch Trade Union Federation (Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging, FNV) sees the development as interesting. The Christian Trade Union Federation (Christelijk Nationaal Vakverbond, CNV) is surprised to see the degree of unity now shown, but perceives benefits in that employers will speak with a single voice. While the Federation of Managerial and Professional Staff Unions (Vakcentrale voor Middengroepen en Hoger Personeel, MHP) understands the drive to achieve economies of scale, the chairperson expressed concern for the interests of the small and medium-sized business sector within the new alliance. The small and medium-sized business sector must not be gobbled up by the multinationals.

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