The trade unions representing the police force in the Netherlands agreed with the final collective bargaining offer tabled by the Minister of the Interior at the end of March 2008. Having rejected earlier proposals, the trade unions reluctantly accepted the minister’s latest proposal. The conditions of the collective agreement correspond with the general trend for higher collectively agreed salaries in the first quarter of 2008 compared with 2007 as a whole.
Final offer to police unions
At the end of March 2008, the Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, Guusje ter Horst, made a final offer in the collective bargaining round to the trade unions representing the country’s police force (NL0802039I). The minister proposed an overall pay increase of about 12% over three years: 10.25% at structural level and close to 2% on a one-off basis. The increase applies to around 16,000 police officers, categorised at the end of scale 9 – the level above lower executive staff. However, the police are dissatisfied with the fact that so many of them do not go beyond this scale.
The remaining, operational officers will receive a total of 6.25% over the next three years. All officers categorised up to scale 9 will receive two one-off bonuses. Starting in 2010, a new pay structure will be introduced but details of this have not yet been specified. It is expected that the pay structure will include extra salary measures for employees who are at the end of their scale.
Minister ter Horst is upholding her third offer made in mid March 2008, for which further consultation was required with the Minister of Finance, Wouter Bos. The minister’s proposal involves paying out an additional €350 million structurally, topped up by one-off bonuses amounting to a further €220 million.
Trade unions forced to agree
Although trade union members had already voted against the collective bargaining offer, Minister ter Horst refused to enter into new discussions. Should discussions nonetheless be re-opened, she vowed to return to the lower wage offer that had emerged following previous negotiations lasting four months. The four trade unions involved – the largest being the General Christian Police Union (Algemene Christelijke Politiebond, ACP) and the Netherlands Police Union (Nederlandse Politiebond, NPB) – found themselves with their backs to the wall, and the members reluctantly accepted the minister’s final offer.
Rise in collectively agreed wages
The conditions of the collective agreement for the police force correspond with the general trend for higher collectively agreed salaries in the first quarter of 2008 compared with 2007 as a whole. In April 2008, the Central Bureau of Statistics (Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, CBS) published figures showing collective wage growth of 2.7% for the first quarter of 2008. This figure only amounted to 2.1% for 2007 as a whole, despite the fact that significant pay increases were expected (NL0707029I). The CBS findings were based on a survey of 86% of the collective agreements in the Netherlands. In fact, collective agreements in the light engineering industry and healthcare sector show that wage demands of above 3% are being honoured.
Light engineering industry
As of 1 April 2008, wages were due to rise by 3.5% in the light engineering industry. A further 3% will be added with effect from 1 February 2009. Employees will also receive three one-off bonuses totalling €800; the collective agreement has a term of 22 months. The Dutch Trade Union Federation (Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging, FNV) and the Christian Trade Union Federation (Christelijk Nationaal Vakverbond, CNV) are satisfied with the outcome, as is the sectoral employer organisation. Favourable agreements have also been reached for young workers and older employees. The light engineering industry is facing a labour shortage of about 40,000 vacancies, representing 10% of the industry-wide workforce.
Hospitals
Meanwhile, staff at university medical centres will receive a total pay increase of 10.5% over the next three years. Wages were due to rise by 2.1% with effect from 1 March 2008, followed by a further 1.95% in both March 2009 and March 2010. In addition, the year-end bonus will be raised to 4.05%. The aim is to reach an increase equivalent to a full monthly salary over three years.
This collective agreement is exceptional in that a figure of 1.75% of the gross salary has been earmarked for personal development, in the form of a personal budget. The budget has been allocated for training, conferences and/or retreats and aims to facilitate the sustainable deployment of healthcare personnel. Older employees will also receive an additional allowance to be used for the life-cycle leave arrangement (levensloopregeling), which offers workers greater scope to save and manage periods of time off over their careers (NL0411102F, NL0304103F); this allowance can also be used to take additional days off. The collective agreement is considered groundbreaking for general hospitals, where around 190,000 people work.
Marianne Grünell, Hugo Sinzheimer Institute (HSI)