An exceptional situation threatens to become reality on Monday: action and strikes at the trade union FNV.
Employees demand retention of purchasing power through inflation correction and wages that follow inflation through the so-called automatic price compensation (APC). If the union does not respond, actions will follow from 10 a.m. on Monday.
“The union must lead by example. This means that inflation must be corrected and that automatic price compensation must be introduced,” FNV director Judith Westhoek said in a statement. “Our hundreds of FNV negotiators also demand this from other employers and it is not the case that inflation has passed FNV employees by. Now is therefore the time for our employer to put words into action.”
Not a real APC
The union wants to conclude a 3-year collective labor agreement with wages of between 3 and 7 percent as of 1 May, depending on the salary scale someone is in. The APC will be introduced with a guaranteed 5 percent extra wage for everyone on 1 January 2024. Inflation will be monitored for subsequent years, but up to a maximum of 5 percent, which is not a real automatic price compensation, according to FNV Personeel.
In recent months, there have been vigorous negotiations about a new collective labor agreement – the current one expires on 1 May.
Labour Day
If the FNV management has not responded to the demands of FNV Personeel on May 1 at 10 a.m., a first visibility action will follow the same Monday – on Labor Day – during the May 1 march of the FNV in Amsterdam. It starts at 3 p.m. from George Gershwinplein in Amsterdam and ends in Martin Luther King Park. A day later, on Tuesday 2 May, the first national strike is on the agenda.