This is apparent from an annual overview of the employers’ association AWVN, which is involved in most collective labor agreement negotiations.
In 2021, no fewer than 411 agreements were concluded on employment conditions, for a total of 3.75 million employees. That is more collective labor agreements than in an average year. But due to uncertainty about the coronavirus, many collective labor agreements were only renewed after the end date.
Pay raise
On average, a wage increase of 1.93% was agreed upon, says AWVN. For 489,000 employees, however, there was no salary increase at all in the barrel. For 346,000 employees, the plus was 3% or more. That was usually for employees in the food industry, such as the chemical and pharmaceutical industry.
The employers’ association sees that the emphasis in the collective labor agreements is on wages, and believes that future developments, such as recruiting staff in the future and the energy transition, should be looked more ahead.