On Friday, June 18, 2021, we had a short collective labor agreement meeting at the VGZ office in Arnhem.
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Overview
The consultation consisted of two parts. We first categorized all topics. With this we have created a good overview so that we can focus on the topics that the consultation should be about. We now have the next tripartite:
- Topics on which we largely agree, and on which we have yet to establish the text. We don't have to spend time on this for the time being.
- Topics to be negotiated. These have priority.
- Topics on which more information needs to be added. Then we can judge whether it is a category 1 or a category 2 topic.
Negotiations
We then started negotiating on the topics where we are still far apart.
Salary
The most important subject in this collective labor agreement is salary negotiations. De Unie wants a collective salary increase of 3% as of June 1, 2021, based on a duration of 1 year. A collective labor agreement with a longer term is negotiable for us, but then we would like to agree on a higher collective salary increase.
VGZ indicates that they prefer not to allow a salary increase to take effect retroactively. It is negotiable for us to allow the collective salary increase to take effect at a later date, for example on 1 July 2021, if the missed period is compensated with a one-off payment. The biggest problem, however, is that VGZ is proposing a collective salary increase that does not even reach 0,5%. This is definitely insufficient, in the insurance sector collective labor agreements are still made with a salary increase of 2% or higher. There is no reason why VGZ employees should earn less than their colleagues at other insurers.
Get fit for your retirement
Getting fit for your pension is a second topic on which we are still far apart in the negotiations. VGZ wants, just like De Unie, opening up instruments for employees who can use extra support to be able to deliver a top performance in recent years before their retirement.
VGZ is mainly thinking of further developing the existing instruments, for example extra study leave for older employees. We have proposed to offer employees more recovery time. Another option is to financially support employees who want to bring their pension forward.
Continuation
The next collective labor agreement meeting will be on Friday 25 June 2021. We have agreed to use that meeting to come closer together on the topics of collective salary increase and fit for retirement.
Contact
Do you have any questions regarding this message? Or do you have information that you are using De Unie want to share? Please contact me, representative Inge de Vries. You can reach me by sending an email to: inge.de.vries@unie.nl.
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