On Monday, January 23, 2023 De Unieorganized an online employee meeting together with the other trade unions. There were almost 600 employees in this call. Not everyone was able to participate because we were close to the maximum capacity of the platform on which the meeting was held. De Unie will therefore organize more meetings. You will hear more about this later.
Purpose of the employee meeting
We felt this meeting was necessary because the collective labor agreement negotiations are very difficult. We know from e-mails from members that the dissatisfaction is great. Dissatisfaction with the salary proposal from UWV, dissatisfaction with the far too small improvement in the travel allowance, dissatisfaction because more and more is being asked of employees, but the appreciation is only reflected in nice words. As trade unions, we are called upon to stop waiting and take real action now. We as De Unie often receive this question via email. The e-mails below show a lot of dissatisfaction:
- “Perhaps we as employees should share en masse what we will have left after our fixed costs have been reduced, perhaps that the top will then get a little more feeling about our real situation.”
- “Perhaps we as employees should go to the ministry ourselves for a better budget.”
- "Isn't it time to let the customers know that we are not happy with our employer?"
- “Why do we have to adhere to the ROEP guidelines if we don't get that back at all?”
- “If the employer is so good for the environment, let them pay something for it themselves, but that we have to pay to come to work is crazy.”
- “Everything is taken care of, but not for us. It hurts that our employer does not even want to go to the government for a better budget.”
But there are also members who have a different view.
- “I like that De Unie I have to conclude a collective labor agreement as quickly as possible, then I know where I stand. Now I have nothing.”
- “Why put De Unie so hard? After all, a collective labor agreement has always been reached after good consultation.”
- “Stopping is not an option. The fact that we are not paid enough should not lead to late payments to clients. What are the other options?"
At the employee meeting, we called on the participants to become active. This is already well received, but we can use a lot more help. We also wanted to use the employee meetings to answer current questions and to gain a better insight into the expectations of our supporters.
Petition
The petition was the first means of action that the trade unions used together. This was a great success. Almost half of the UWV employees have signed the petition, thereby asking the UWV Board of Directors to come up with a better proposal for an increase in salaries and fair reimbursement of the costs incurred to perform the work. Unfortunately, this has not led to a U-turn in the positions your employer takes in the collective labor agreement consultations. So it seems necessary to apply more pressure.
Action tradition
At UWV, employees are not used to campaigning. It was customary for the collective labor agreement to be concluded anyway, but at a somewhat lower level. The last collective agreement has passed De Unie not signed, because the majority of members did not agree with the reduction of the travel allowance for other transport.
Now that the collective labor agreement negotiations are proceeding so laboriously, the trade unions consider it important to set up the infrastructure in a timely manner and jointly that may be needed in the future to achieve a better collective labor agreement at the UWV.
Action Committee
De Unie and the other trade unions are calling on their members to sign up for the action committees. Ideally, we want an action committee to work in every office. This committee thinks along with the trade unions about which means of action can be used at the UWV or at the relevant office. And the action committee also gets to work to involve colleagues in these activities. Do you want to participate in an action committee and really contribute to a good collective labor agreement? Send an email to: mandy.raijmakers@unie.nl and sign up.
Collective labor agreement consultations will continue for the time being
The best thing is if we do manage to negotiate a collective agreement, a good collective agreement of course. The next collective labor agreement consultation is on February 9, 2023. Of course it works De Unie working hard to have a good consultation with UWV. But if your employer does not listen to the employees, then we have to exert pressure in a different way. On 9 February 2023 we want to give UWV a preview. Trade unions are jointly preparing an activity with which UWV employees can show their support. So keep an eye on your email.
Questions
If you have any questions, please contact us. And do you want to participate in an action committee or help in another way. Send an e-mail to: mandy.raijmakers@unie.nl
