Bargaining parties in healthcare reach agreement

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On 10 May 1998, employers and the trade unions in the Dutch healthcare sector reached a new collective agreement. This was made possible after a debate in the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament, in which the outgoing Minister of Health offered employers a chance for renegotiation in the autumn if the budget proves to be inadequate.

Finally, after a 24-hour marathon meeting on Sunday 10 May 1998, employers and trade unions reached consensus on a one-year collective agreement for the healthcare sector (NL9804172N). An agreement, whose provisions were "in line with prevailing market standards", had been reached in April 1998 for teaching hospitals and home care institutions, and the May agreement achieved a similar result for non-teaching hospitals, nursing homes, psychiatric institutions and care for disabled people. This second collective agreement generated a great deal of public interest, not only because of the protests launched by staff in support of claims put forward by the unions, but also because the Second Chamber of Parliament pursued the matter and brought pressure to bear upon the Minister of Health to make additional budgetary concessions. During the debate, the Minister of Health announced that the collective agreement should reflect "normal practice" (that is, prevailing market standards) and should not lead to greater work pressures and longer waiting lists. Should such negative consequences occur, she voiced a willingness to confer again with the employers in the autumn.

The May agreement is in line with market standards, in that it provides for a 3.6% pay increase and an end-of-year lump sum bonus of 0.75%. These figures correspond roughly with the agreements reached with teaching hospitals and home care institutions. The figures also come close to the claims put forward by the unions, which were able to negotiate from a position of strength in view of the currently tight labour market. "Market conformity" as a standard was also supported by the Minister, who said that "the healthcare sector has to become more attractive to new employees." Indeed, further measures agreed by the parties are geared towards making the sector more attractive. Student-nurse salaries will rise by 10% and allowances for new students are expected to increase by as much as 50%. In return for a more flexible duty roster, an extra bonus will be offered for working on Sundays and public holidays. The fear of staff shortages also prompted a broad package of measures, including childcare facilities designed to attract the attention of women re-entering the labour market, who are a potentially significant component of the workforce.

Meanwhile, employers have submitted their bill to the Government: NLG 500 million over and above the NLG 1.1 billion already agreed. In line with prevailing market rates, the Government has promised a minimum of 3% more than its budget actually allows (NL9803168N). This bill has once again thrown the ball into the political arena; for years, the Government's budget has lagged 0.5 percentage points behind the actual increase in healthcare expenditure (1.8%). At present, the Government believes that a 2% increase would be sufficient, while the sector itself has calculated that almost 4% is necessary.