In this message you can read about our progress in the negotiations on a new social plan.
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The negotiations are going slowly
The consultation between the management of GKN Fokker and the unions is going very difficult. Where the unions are holding on to the extension of the previous social plan from 2019 as much as possible, the management wants to make significant cuts. This can be concluded from the consultation of Tuesday 18 February 2025.
For example, the employer wants to reduce the safety net period as previously agreed in the previous social plan (period of exemption from work with retention of pay) of 6 months to a minimum of 2 months and a maximum of 4 months. As far as GKN Fokker is concerned, the exemption from work would be a maximum of 2 months. This means that employees will receive exemption from work with retention of pay for a much shorter period than was agreed in 2019. We have not been given a real reason for this, except that it is cheaper and faster this way.
The most important point for many people is of course the amount of the severance payment. The employer wants to base this payment on the current statutory compensation with a multiplication factor of 1,5 with the statutory maximum. On top of that an extra cap for people who are about to receive their AOW. They will never receive more than they would have earned if they had continued to work until AOW.
Unions are sticking to the old statutory transition payment that was valid until 2019 with a multiplication factor of 2, without a statutory maximum. Because we agreed on this earlier. We also do not want a cap for people who are about to receive their AOW.
The employer's current proposal could cost employees many (tens of) thousands of euros, and even more than a hundred thousand euros to their disadvantage. A lot of money for an individual employee, a small amount for a company like GKN Fokker.
Continuation
We agreed that the employer would reconsider the union ideas and that we would discuss them again on March 3. We expect to hold member meetings in the week of March 10 to discuss the state of affairs with all union members. More about this later.
Questions or remarks?
Do you have questions or comments? Please contact the representative Hans Korver. He can be reached at hans.korver@unie.nl or call 06-5252 2073.