We are facing even more strikes now that more and more workers are willing to campaign for higher wages. They demand compensation for the sky-high inflation and hope to maintain their purchasing power. This is evident from a tour of NU.nl along employers and trade unions.
Regional transport, waste companies, PostNL, Etos, de Bijenkorf, the beverage industry and wholesale and technical wholesale: a number of examples of sectors and companies where employees take action.
According to collective labor agreement expert Henk Strating of CAO-expert.online, everything points to more strikes this year. “The FNV is committed to full price compensation. The unions are also gaining more members and that makes them stronger. Moreover, they feel supported by statements from, for example, De Nederlandsche Bank, which has indicated that wages can be increased. This will lead to more unrest, actions and strikes in various sectors.”
Employers’ association AWVN says that the atmosphere at the collective labor agreement tables is harder than a year ago. “The unions are trying to enforce higher wage increases. This is accompanied by a lot of noise and threats. We also expect more strikes this year,” says a spokesperson.
But the employers’ club does not expect massive strikes that will disrupt society. “Negotiators still often come to an agreement. More collective agreements were concluded last year than usual.”
FNV sees ‘a cocktail of anger and disappointment’
Figures from the AWVN show that 423 collective labor agreements were concluded for 3.93 million employees last year. The average wage increase was 3.4 percent. That is well below inflation, which was 10 percent.
For the FNV, this is a reason to enter the collective labor agreement negotiations firmly. Vice-chairman Zakaria Boufangacha sees that many employees are willing to stop working. He even speaks of a strike wave.
“There are currently more strikes than ever at the beginning of a year. We also see this at companies such as ING, which normally never took action. There is the same sentiment as at the end of last year: rising prices, lagging wages and a very high workload. There is a cocktail of anger and disappointment.”
‘Automatic price compensation not wise’
Boufangacha emphasizes that the FNV will continue to adhere to the wage demand of 14.3 percent. “Full price compensation is and remains the starting point.” Collective labor agreement expert Strating does not think this is wise. “That will only fuel inflation,” he warns.
“It is better to increase wages by that part of the inflation that companies can pass on to their customers and buyers. That should then be automatically passed on in wages. The public sector will receive the average of those increases, just like now. And then can there be further negotiations per sector or company about a possible further increase.”
