The salaries of pharmacies employees are going up considerably. That was agreed on Friday in an outline agreement. At the end of 2026, wages will be 20 percent higher than in July 2024. In 2027 there will be an elevation on top.
The agreement was made between employers and trade unions, and are in the outline agreement. Based on that, negotiations for a new collective agreement will start soon.
In that new collective agreement, the steps must be worked out with which wages rise to get to the final percentage.
The wage increase is necessary to reduce the backlog on other sectors, according to the trade union. The outline agreement also contains other agreements, which was achieved after mediation of former minister Martin van Rijn.
Strikes
The cabinet had asked the minister to break the difficulties surrounding the negotiations. At the end of last year, the employees resigned several times for a new collective agreement.
Those actions were suspended because of the mediation of Van Rijn, and it will remain the case for the time being. Trade unions FNV and CNV held the actions because they want higher wages and better employment conditions for pharmacy employees.
Other appointments
There are also other agreements in the outline agreement. For example, pharmacies must receive their reimbursements in a different way in the future. They are now paid on the basis of the amount of medicines they provide.
That must change into a reimbursement for the care provided. “That is a recognition that employees of pharmacies are healthcare professionals. They say: we are not sellers, we work in a crucial chain,” said a CNV spokeswoman.