Higher wages in healthcare, GL-PvdA proposes on Labor Day

ANPP personnel in a hospital

NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 05:01

The lowest-paid healthcare employees must earn at least 16 euros per hour. GroenLinks-PvdA makes this proposal today, on Labor Day. According to the group, these are people who do essential work every day in hospitals, nursing homes and in people’s homes and are currently not paid for it.

The left-wing combination will try to get a majority for the proposal when the Spring Memorandum is discussed in the House of Representatives. That is scheduled for early June.

According to GroenLinks-PvdA, around 60,000 people currently work in healthcare for less than 16 euros per hour. That is not enough for the important work they do, says party leader Timmermans. “During the corona crisis they kept our country afloat and they still do that every day.”

Due to the recent rise in prices, they are often unable to make ends meet or have any pocket money left over. “That can’t continue like this,” says Timmermans.

Collective Labor Agreement negotiations

To make the intended wage increase possible as of January 1 next year, GroenLinks-PvdA wants to increase the contribution that healthcare employers receive from the government for collective labor agreement negotiations. They receive that money on the condition that it is only used for higher wages in the lowest salary scales.

This also makes working in healthcare more attractive, Timmermans thinks. The sector is facing a major shortage of personnel.

The current legal minimum hourly wage is 13.27 euros. If everyone in healthcare earns at least 16 euros, it will cost approximately 525 million euros per year, GroenLinks-PvdA has calculated.

Employers pay

To pay for this, the party wants to increase the maximum premium that all employers in the Netherlands pay for an employee’s health insurance. This means that employers would have to pay more health insurance premiums for employees with a high salary.

The left-wing movement traditionally celebrates Labor Day on May 1. It is an international holiday, born from the struggle for an eight-hour working day in the 19th century. Unlike many other countries, the Netherlands has never made May 1 a national holiday on which people are free.