In this message we inform you about Wednesday's collective labor agreement negotiations
1 November 2023.
3e round of collective labor agreements
How is the 3e day of negotiations at the Association of Insurers in The Hague expired? Under the leadership of the external chairman, we started the consultation at 9 am. The group consists of about 15 representatives of trade unions, employers, secretariat and the chairman. A draft agenda has been drawn up in advance by the secretariat and the chairman, which determines the daily schedule. By default, it starts with the opening, announcements and minutes of the previous negotiations. Good to get back into it and see where we left off last time.
We also had to be sharp with the first substantive point because it concerned pensions. With the help of two pension experts, we went through some sample calculations. What does a pension premium of x and y percent do to the results? What are the outcomes if an employee accrues the entire service time and what if this is only half? This is how we went through the pension accrual, the partner's and the orphan's pension. It provided insight but also food for thought for collective labor agreement parties. A good time before lunch to let it sink in.
After lunch we went through the proposal matrix. The matrix contains all points that parties have submitted through their proposal letters. First check whether everything is included and then ask the parties whether all points were clear enough to each other. In the next round, employers will present a detailed proposal to adjust the distinction between overtime and additional work. They will also submit a concrete text about their proposed adjustment to the vitality scheme in the next round. We will then wait for the text proposals.
We then discussed some more legal collective labor agreement matters, such as the list of points of attention and adjustments to collective labor agreements, including from the tax authorities. We have checked whether the collective labor agreement still complies with the ESG, CSRD and Transparent employment conditions guidelines. We do not need to adjust the current collective labor agreement accordingly. A point for further investigation is the equal treatment of part-timers and full-timers. The secretariat will pick this up and put it back on the agenda later.
Then we briefly talked about diversity and inclusion. There is a working group from the social calendar is working on it and the collective labor agreement parties are waiting to see what will be delivered before the end of the year. This could then immediately be included in our new collective labor agreement text. Finally, a fixed part of the daily agenda is that we coordinate with each other whether and what the parties will do in (external) communication. We have a joint text established for publication and parties are also free to inform their supporters through their own channels.
We got the 1e November, we didn't really negotiate and we finished the agenda for an hour or two. The next meeting is on Wednesday, November 15, and negotiations will take place then. The subsequent meetings are Friday, November 24, Wednesday, December 13 and finally Tuesday, December 19, 2023. Not a lot of time in my opinion, but we will see.
What do you think?
With the previous newsletter Have we shared the efforts and arguments of employers with the members and asked what they think? Broadly speaking, there is surprise, to say the least, about employers' wage offers. The arguments about the cost increase are little recognized as most insurers do not or only partially have a life product in their range. Few employers have done anything in the past two years to cushion the effects of high inflation on employees and expectations are high when it comes to the outcome of wage negotiations. We will of course take these responses into account in the coming negotiations.
Contact
You can reach the representative Emanuel Geurts by email at emanuel.geurts@unie.nl and by telephone on 06-5252 2074. Do you have an individual question or do you need advice? Please contact our Service Center via sc@unie.nl or by telephone on 0345-851 963. We are happy to help you!
