In January 2007, government officials took action to campaign for a better collective agreement than that being offered by the Minister of Internal Affairs. The issue mainly revolves around pay, which – according to employees of national administration bodies and their trade unions – lags behind the salaries of their colleagues in municipal bodies and of the police force. So far, however, the Minister of Internal Affairs is standing firm despite industrial action disrupting the country’s public services.
Minister’s offer falls far short
In January 2007, government officials took industrial action aimed at achieving a better collective agreement than that being offered by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Johan Remkes. This issue concerns 120,000 government officials who work at the tax authorities, prison services and ministries, notably those of the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management within the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management (Ministerie van Verkeer en Waterstaat).
Collective negotiations came to a halt in November 2006 following demands put forward by Abvakabo FNV, the civil servant’s union affiliated to the Dutch Trade Union Federation (Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging, FNV). The government officials are seeking a wage increase of 5%, while the minister has no intention of going further than 2%, in line with the government’s call for wage moderation (NL0610029I). Half of the wage demand consists of increasing the year-end bonus to 4%, so that government officials in effect receive a 13th-month salary bonus. Since 2002, they have received only marginal, if indeed any, wage increases (0% in 2002 to 2% in 2004).
However, Minister Remkes remains adamant that the wages of government officials have not fallen behind the rest of the labour market. He added that he was not afraid of a tight labour market with its shortages of skilled labour supply and upward wage pressures, which is currently being experienced in certain sectors in the Netherlands. The minister maintains that he will pay specific categories of employees more if necessary.
Pay is not the only issue causing unrest. The new healthcare system introduced in 2005 is simply not beneficial to government officials (NL0602103N). In particular, the extra healthcare allowance for government officials was scrapped. Like all other employees, they have had to take full responsibility for paying their healthcare premiums since 1 January 2005.
Paid parental leave must stay
Abvakabo is insisting that paid parental leave, which has been available to those working in the public sector since 1989, be kept. Parental leave is based on half the number of hours worked per week, multiplied by 13 weeks. This amount of leave, calculated in hours, can be spread out over a six-month period at most, or can be taken over a shorter time period, with more leave per week given. Normally, parental leave in the Netherlands is unpaid; however, government officials continue to receive 75% of their pay while on this leave.
In January 2006, the government introduced the ‘life-span leave’ scheme (NL0411102F), affecting existing parental benefits across the board. Under the life-span leave arrangement, employees from all sectors can put aside a part of their earnings for use when the need for taking leave arises. The life-span leave scheme encompasses many types of leave, including parental leave. If civil servants do not participate in the life-span leave scheme, they could miss out on a maximum of €632 a month for full-time leave lasting three months. Abvakabo would like to retain parental leave in its old form, even though around 6% of all government officials participate in the life-span leave scheme.
Industrial action taken
In January 2007, about 4,000 public sector employees began industrial action. This came after 20,000 employees had supported the collective bargaining rounds in November 2006. Now that talks have reached a deadlock, further industrial action is being taken in an attempt to force the minister to back down in relation to the government officials’ demands. Action began with friendly protests at the ministries, customs control offices and prison services. At the beginning of January, demonstrators, including government officials from across the country, marched through The Hague, the country’s administrative centre.
Two weeks later, Abvakabo announced that it would take tougher action. To show that it meant business, on 22 January, work-to-rule actions, work interruptions and demonstrations were held across the country, causing widespread chaos. The dispute looks set to continue.
Marianne Grünell, Hugo Sinzheimer Institute (HSI)