14 April, 2011Mobilisation in the Netherlands toward strike action won 330,000 metalworkers a 25-month labour agreement in the small metals and electric-technical sector. The pay package of 4.45 per cent exceeds Dutch inflation and is expected to set the pace for national contracts in the coming weeks in automotive and the big metals sectors.
NETHERLANDS: Bondgenoten, CNV Vakmensen, and De Unie reached a tentative agreement with the Metaal & Techniek industry asssociation, representing 30,000 employers, late on April 6, which now prevents another two weeks of scheduled mobilisation that could have led to industrial actions. A prior agreement in the sector covering metal fabrication, installation, as well as plumbing, heating, and electrical installation expired 1 April.
"The employers didn't want a fight and we were quickly mobilising toward strike action," said Jan Berghuis, head of the sector for FNV Bondgenoten, who called the pact "trendsetting."
"With inflation expected to be less than two per cent, this is a very good result and it will likely prove very important in the big metal and automotive sectors."
Some 150,000 metalworkers in basic steel and other heavy metal production resume talks through their unions on April 19. The agreement in that sector expires May 1. The automotive sector, where 90,000 workers are employed, has a social agreement expiring on June 1.
The accord in light metals and electric-technical provides exceptional training opportunities and investment of such for workers, a key part of the deal. Berghuis also said the unions won language regarding the use of short-term contract labour that specifies this work can only go to labour-hire firms that have collective agreements with the unions.
The 4.45 per cent pay increase will come in four steps over the next 18 months. Berghuis said the only disappointment came in not securing a higher wage or a stipend for young workers. But young workers brought into the sector during the financial crisis will benefit by the 4.45 per cent.
The three unions and Metaal & Techniek industry had been at a bargaining stalemate since late February, and only a week ago mobilisation meetings and union activity indicated there could be a rare Dutch strike in this sector. But a compromise on wages, extending the agreement into a second year, the unions gaining the necessary continuing education and training criteria, and workable language on contract labour means the agreement will be recommended for ratification by all three unions.