On Wednesday 11 December 2024, we held our fourth day of negotiations for a new Housing Services collective labour agreement. In this message, we will inform you about the progress of the negotiation day.
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Disappointing course of events
Today was the day: to really make progress on the most important topics for the new collective labour agreement. The main topics were to be wages and the generational pact. Naturally, we had also made room for other wishes from the trade unions and employers. The negotiations were disappointing. We exchanged positions, but we didn't really negotiate.
On 11 December, we actually discussed three topics: the introduction of entry-level scales, the generational pact and pay.
Approach ramps
The collective labour agreement now has two entry-level scales. These entry-level scales are specifically intended for school leavers and new entrants. These salary scales feature lower wages than the standard salary scales.
Employers want to abolish entry scales and introduce probationary scales. The intention is that the probationary scales will be for not only school leavers and new entrants, but for any candidate who does not yet (fully) meet the job requirements of the advertised vacancy.
The employers' proposal is to have three salary steps for salary scales from D upwards (for salary scale D, there will be 2 salary steps), with regard to the starting salary. In other words, a lower starting salary within the relevant salary scale. A candidate hired into an entry-level scale will be offered a mandatory development programme. The aim is for the candidate to progress to the starting salary of the salary scale within a maximum of 3 years (meaning it could be sooner).
De Unie and its sister unions have received a detailed proposal on this subject. We have informed the employers that we wish to examine this proposal in more detail. De Unie can still see some merit in the arguments in favour of a phased-in pay scale. However, we consider a three-year phasing-in period to be far too long. But there is more to the employers’ proposal. As mentioned, we will be examining it in more detail.
Generational Pact
Employers have indicated that they are not enthusiastic about the intergenerational pact. They consider it too costly a scheme for too small a group of employees. They do, however, recognise that it is an important negotiating point for De Unie and its fellow trade unions.
The generation pact is indeed intended for a limited number of employees. By making the generation pact structural, it becomes a working condition that everyone can participate in at a certain point. The young generation of today is, after all, the older generation of tomorrow.
In addition, based on research and our experiences at other negotiating tables, we know that a generational agreement has a positive effect on the sustainable employability of older employees. With an 80/90/100 arrangement (or a different distribution of percentages), we enable the older employee to reach the end of their working life fitter.
De Unie and its partner unions therefore regard an 80/90/100 scheme as an important condition of employment. We also consider this to be balanced, as we have put forward proposals for other specific target groups as well. For example, we wish to improve the arrangements for parental leave and supplementary birth leave.
Employers do not want to make the 80/90/100 scheme structural. Additionally, they want to increase the entry age from 63 to 64 years and 3 months.
Salary and Generational Pact
The employers have linked their wage offer and the generational pact. They have made us the following choice proposal:
- Scenario A
- A collective labour agreement with a duration of 2 years.
- Extension of the generation pact by 3 years.
- With effect from 1 April 2025, a permanent pay rise of 2%.
- The 2025 end-of-year bonus will be increased by 1% to 3%.
- With effect from 1 April 2026, a structural pay rise of 2%.
- The 2026 end-of-year bonus will be increased by 1% to 4%.
- Scenario B
- A collective labour agreement with a duration of 2 years.
- The generation pact is lapsing.
- With effect from 1 April 2025, a structural pay rise of 2.65%.
- The 2025 end-of-year bonus will be increased by 1% to 3%.
- With effect from 1 April 2026, a structural pay rise of 2.2%.
- The 2026 end-of-year bonus will be increased by 1% to 4%.
In both proposals, the year-end bonus is not pensionable and does not count towards the accrual of holiday pay.
Incidentally, on 10 December 2024, we had a regular meeting with the pension fund (SPW). From an implementation perspective, it is no longer possible for the pension fund to make the 2025 year-end bonus pensionable. If we want to make the year-end bonus pensionable, it can only be done from 2026 onwards.
Employers have indicated that making the year-end bonus pensionable will come at the expense of wage increases. In other words, the wage increase for 2026 will very likely be lower as a result.
The same applies in scenario A to the point of keeping the entry age the same as now (63 years). Employers can agree to this, but the wage offer will very likely decrease.
Finally, the employers believe that they have made us a market-rate pay offer.
Our response to the salary offer
De Unie and its affiliated unions have a very different view of what constitutes a market-based pay offer. If we compare the wage offer with the pay rises in companies and sectors that we and employers regard as a benchmark for the Housing Services sector, the employers’ wage offer is considerably lower. Furthermore, it falls below the inflation rate for 2024 and the expected inflation rate for 2025. This means that your purchasing power would actually decline.
This is naturally unacceptable to us. We have specifically focused on improving purchasing power.
The link employers are making between the wage offer and the generational pact presents us with an impossible choice. After all, we consider both a good wage offer and the structural anchoring of the generational pact in the collective labour agreement to be very important issues. We believe that employers are not sufficiently taking the positive effects of a generational pact into account in their considerations. In our experience, a good generational pact leads to lower sickness absence rates. And therefore to lower absence costs for an employer.
We have suspended negotiations
After the three main topics of the fourth negotiation day had been covered, we, the trade unions, have assessed the situation.
After four days of negotiations, we have been unable to reach an agreement with the employers, apart from a few minor points. We are making no progress on any subject. Furthermore, on the two main topics of 11 December – wages and the generational contract – we see a considerable gap between our wishes and what the employers are offering. We also see no pointers in the employers' stance and negotiation tactics at the moment that suggest we could reach an agreement.
De Unie and its partner unions therefore wish to consult their members. We want to find out what staff think about how the negotiations have gone so far. But above all, we want to know what they think of the employers’ offer regarding the pay rise and the generational pact.
We have therefore informed the employers that we are suspending negotiations indefinitely. This will allow us to consult with our members.
The sequel
The last scheduled, fifth, negotiation day of 19 December 2024 will lapse. We have, after all, suspended negotiations.
In the week of 16th December, we will contact our group of executive members to discuss the state of negotiations and to align on how we wish to consult our constituents in January 2025.
Would you like to become a representative for De Unie? So that you can have a direct say in the negotiations and other issues affecting the Housing Services sector? If so, please register as a representative with representative.
Following consultation with the leadership group and further coordination with fellow trade unions regarding the next steps, we will inform members via a new newsletter.
One more thing: your pension build-up in 2025
If your gross salary remains the same in January 2025 – for example, because you are at the top of your pay scale – your net salary will be slightly lower from January 2025. This is because you will be paying more pension contributions from January 2025.
From 1 January 2025, the pensionable earnings on which your pension is calculated will increase. This is because the 10% collective agreement pay rise from 2024 will be included in the pension base from 2025 onwards. You will therefore accrue more pension from 2025 onwards.
The split of the pension contributions between the employer and the employee remains the same. The employer’s contribution to the pension remains at 18.56%. The employee pays 8.44% (the total pension contribution is 27%).
In addition, pensions will be indexed by the pension fund SPW as of 1 January 2025. You have already received notification about this from the pension fund. More information about the indexation can be found on the SPW website.
Vragen of opmerkingen?
Do you have any questions or comments about this post? If so, please contact the representative, Hans Korver, via hans.korver@unie.nl and on 06-5252 2073.
