The members of De Unie with a Complete or Extra membership could vote on the negotiation result for the new collective labor agreement on April 14 and 15, 2025. In addition, the two general meetings of the joint trade unions on April 14 were dedicated to the reorganization that Tata Steel announced on April 9, 2025.
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Furthermore, colleagues who are not yet members of De Unie, which will be accompanied by a special offer for Tata Steel employees.
Result of voting on new collective labor agreement
The members of De Unie have agreed with the negotiated result by a large majority. This also applies to the members of the other three unions. The next step is now that the text of the new collective labor agreement is being prepared. The negotiated result contains a limited number of points. Only the wage agreement is new compared to the previous collective labor agreement.
We are waiting for the new text of the collective labor agreement and will then respond as unions to Tata Steel. At this moment I do not know when we will receive the new draft text of the collective labor agreement. But the collective labor agreement will be effective from 1 April 2025.
The reorganization
The announced reorganization has logically caused a lot of unrest. Prior to April 9, De Unie and its fellow unions advised Tata Steel not to approach the reorganisation, as well as the manner of communicating about it, in the way Tata Steel is doing now.
Everyone agrees that something needs to be done at Tata Steel. In order not to leave employees in uncertainty for too long, we believe it is obvious that the employer first works out its plans in detail before sending a request for advice to the Central Works Council for advice. And only then to announce how many FTEs will be affected by the reorganization. The 1600 FTEs now mentioned seems like wishful thinking, instead of being thoroughly and clearly defined with arguments.
In addition, De Unie it goes without saying that such a drastic message is not conveyed via an internal announcement and a video message, but personally by the board and management, on the shop floor and directly to the employees. Tata Steel has also ignored that advice.
We have shared our vision on the reorganization with the employees who attended the two member meetings on Monday April 14. In the morning, some 1000-1200 Tata employees were present. In the afternoon, some 200 employees attended our joint member meeting.
After our morning members meeting we marched from the Tata Steel Academy to the head office. There the four joint unions and the employees present handed a letter of demands to Hans van den Berg. You can read the contents of that letter of demands here.
The Board of Directors of Tata Steel has now responded to this letter. It addresses two of our points: a hiring freeze and maximum efforts to retrain employees. Tata Steel indicates that it does not wish to respond to the other points. On Friday 18 April, Tata Steel invited us to enter into consultations on a social plan.
De Unie and her fellow unions believe it is far too early to accept that invitation. To that end, we believe it must first be made known where exactly the employer wants to declare employees redundant. Only then can we agree on a sound and good social plan. We will not know the insight into this until mid-June at the earliest.
We did indicate on Tuesday 22 April 2025 that we wanted to talk to Tata Steel about our letter of demands and the employer's response to it. That meeting will take place on Wednesday afternoon 23 April 2025. After that meeting, we will vote De Unie and her fellow unions to determine what next steps we believe are appropriate.
As soon as we have anything to report, we will inform the members.
Special offer to become a member
In these turbulent times for Tata Steel, it helps if the unions are as strong as possible. Do you know a colleague who is not yet a member of De Unie? Or is he or she still a Light Member? Then this is the time to switch? They can now take out a Complete or Extra membership, without waiting for individual services!
When you become a member, you normally have a waiting period of 3 months for individual services and 6 months for legal procedures. Especially for new Tata Steel members, the 3-month waiting period is now waived. Furthermore, our usual discount applies in the first year. You pay €8,95 per month for the first year of your membership for a Complete membership and €20,30 for an Extra membership.
Want to know more about our membership options? Call our Service Center at 0345-851 963.
Questions or remarks?
Do you have any questions or comments about this message? Please contact advocate Hans Korver. He can be reached at hans.korver@unie.nl and on 06-5252 2073.
