The draft proposals for amendments to the Metalektro collective labour agreement from 1 January 2026 have been distilled. Based on everyone's contributions – for which we offer our sincere thanks – the National Board Metal Sector (LBM), in constructive mutual consultation, has finalised the following position. You can find the complete draft position here read. We hope you recognise yourself in the issues we’re committed to addressing. You may notice that a significant number of these points are identical to the commitments we made a year and a half ago. This is because, at that time, we agreed to a so-called “money-only” collective agreement that contained few substantive or qualitative provisions. The wishes of our members, LBM and De Unie had not, however, suddenly disappeared. Below are the key points of our position.
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Commitment along three pillars
We implemented the De Unie initiative based on three overarching pillars:
- Terms of employment and labour relations;
- Sustainable employability and working conditions;
- Functional and salary structures.
Terms of employment and industrial relations
Terms and conditions of employment and industrial relations relate, for example, to our pay demand: 7.5% for 2026. But we must also consider sector-specific minimum arrangements for internship allowances, allowances for the costs of working from home, and commuting expenses. We also wish to bring provisions relating to additional work, overtime and holiday pay into line with legislation and regulations following recent changes and court rulings.
Sustainable employability and working conditions
This second pillar covers the arrangements that De Unie wishes to put in place regarding an age-neutral generational pact that is recognisable and accessible to all employees covered by the collective labour agreements in the Metalektro sector. This involves supplements to maternity leave, accessible parental leave and informal carer’s leave. But it also concerns an 80/90/100 scheme accessible to everyone and an RVU that is not linked to a salary threshold that would exclude you from participation.
Job and salary structure
In this way, De Unie aims to ensure that job descriptions do justice to the work that people carry out. We hear and see that job structures are poorly maintained. They are falling into disrepair and becoming neglected. As a result of changing work tasks that are not included in job descriptions but could potentially lead to a re-evaluation of the role, employees may miss out on a higher role-based salary. De Unie therefore advocates that the collective agreement should stipulate that periodic maintenance is carried out on the job classification structure. Under the collective agreement framework, employees also have an active role to play in this. Better recognition – and consequently acknowledgement – of hard work will lead to greater job satisfaction, loyalty and productivity.
Let us know what you think of the proposals.
Members with a Complete or Extra membership have received an invitation to vote. Voting can until and including 11 August 2025.
Finally
A number of comments pointed out to representative Gertjan Tommel that not everything can be covered by a collective agreement. Some requests fall explicitly within the remit of a works council or belong in a sector-wide collective agreement or a company-specific scheme. Or they may even already be covered by the collective agreement. He has not yet been able to respond to everyone. He hopes to follow up on this after his summer holiday (18 August).
