Twenty minutes at most. Maybe thirty. The unions did not want to talk to Prime Minister Rob Jetten and his ministers for much longer on Monday. “We are a decent organization, so we get to know each other. But we also say: they have to come up with very different proposals,” FNV interim chairman Dick Koerselman warned in advance. He had his demands with him in a blue folder. The journalists who gathered could receive a copy afterwards, he promised.
This Monday, a delegation from the minority cabinet of D66, VVD and CDA (66 seats) met with trade unions and employers for an introduction in the Catshuis, the official residence of the Prime Minister. And the unions are angry about the government’s plans.
The violation of the 2019 pension agreement in particular is causing outrage. At the time, the government agreed that the retirement age would increase by eight months for every year that people live longer. This government wants to adjust the eight months to twelve months. In the House of Representatives, a motion was adopted with the support of the coalition parties that calls for the AOW plans to be “softened”. But the unions have “nothing at all” with that, they say. The pension agreement has also been violated in that case.
Requirements increased
What is striking: Upon arrival, the FNV chairman seems to be strengthened by the unrest in the House of Representatives and increases the demands. He no longer just wants to take the accelerated increase in the state pension age off the table before he starts negotiations on cuts. As far as he is concerned, all planned cuts in social security should be scrapped before he starts talking. Also halving the duration of unemployment benefits. And also the cuts in disability benefits. Already, he threatens, he must ‘keep the carriers and port employees in check’. They want to strike.
Ultimately, the introductory meeting lasts less than twenty minutes, but the unions are back outside the gates after an hour. Trade union presidents Koerselman of the FNV, CNV member Piet Fortuin and Nic van Holstein of the VCP trade union jointly addressed the press. At the table, according to the unions, the cabinet had said that they had “made a false start”. According to trade unions, they had noticed that the austerity plans “didn’t go well”. They offered to put their AOW plan “on hold”.
‘No spring consultation’
It is also heard in cabinet circles that the cabinet has offered to the trade unions and employers’ organizations to ‘take a standstill’. There is no need to expect legislation from the House of Representatives for the time being. The cabinet would also have offered to request advice from the Social Economic Council.
But for the unions, a refrigerator is not enough, they say after the talks. “I was trained as a chef, and if you put something in the refrigerator it will stay good for a while,” says Koerselman. “It should simply never be on the table again.”
Less than fifteen minutes after Koerselman says this, his team sends out a press release. The spring consultation, a traditional consultation between cabinet members, employers and trade unions, has been canceled. The unions are suspending further talks with the cabinet. “We are going to prepare for actions,” Fortuin explains.
The unions, they say, understand that the government must spend more on the armed forces. “But why,” says Koerselman of the FNV, “don’t you collect that money from assets? Why do you leave the mortgage interest deduction in place? Why do you mainly target people who just make it to the end of the month with the tax increase?” In the coalition agreement, the government is taking zero measures to increase wealth taxes.
Small openings
At the same time, the unions offer the cabinet small openings. In the press release, Fortuin says to suspend the consultation “until we receive a better opening offer.” So the door is not completely closed yet. And Koerselman also sees that the government must do something about the way in which disabled people receive their benefits, he says. “The process at the UWV is not optimal, and by making improvements there can really be achieved, also financially.”
But: first the cuts are off the table, then they will talk further.
“Our supporters are extremely angry,” says Koerselman. The unions have not yet decided whether they want to demonstrate on the Malieveld in The Hague or the Museumplein in Amsterdam. But it is certain that they are taking major strike actions into account.
