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De Unie advocates for a fair CLA for all employees
- ING employees have, on average, 14% less purchasing power in 2024 compared to three years earlier, while the average in the Netherlands only lost 3% purchasing power.
- Total wage growth at ING is significantly lower than in other CLAs. In the past three years, civil servants even gained 26% more than ING employees (that is three months’ wages).
- ING’s profit has increased by more than 50% since 2018. The profit distribution to shareholders has risen by 150% during this period.
- What do you consider a reasonable wage demand for the upcoming CLA? Let us know here!
What about salary developments at ING?
Summer is coming to an end, and with it, negotiations for a new collective labor agreement (CLA) are approaching. Therefore, we are now focusing on wage developments at ING over the past period. In our last newsletter, we already noted that individual (grade) wage increases at ING lag significantly behind other CLAs. But what about collective wage increases? And how does the overall wage development (both individual and collective) compare to the rest of the Netherlands?
Survey
We expect that compensation will once again be a challenging topic during the negotiations. In the coming period, De Unie will formulate the negotiation objectives. Therefore, now is the right time to share your opinion on the desired wage development in the upcoming CLA. You can do so by completing the survey prepared by De Unie. What aspects should we consider when determining the wage request? Please let us know here by Thursday, September 5th at the latest.
Collective wage development at ING has declined compared to the rest of the Netherlands
We will start with the collective aspect of wage development. One of the main objectives of collective wage increases is to compensate for inflation, or the devaluation of money. The higher prices rise, the less value your wage effectively has.
Since the COVID pandemic, there has been historically high inflation. The blue line in the figure below shows the average CLA wage in the Netherlands, adjusted for inflation. At the end of 2021, inflation started to rise sharply, and initially, wages could not keep up with these price increases. This resulted in a significant decline in purchasing power for the average worker. However, most CLA wages have since recovered significantly, partly due to the sizeable collective wage increases stipulated in new CLAs. As a result, the average CLA wage (adjusted for inflation) is almost back to the before COVID level.
Unfortunately, the situation at ING (represented by the orange line) is less favorable. In August 2024, the average worker at ING earns about 14 percent less than three years earlier. This amounts to a decline of one and a half months’ salary.
Total wage growth at ING lower than at ABN AMRO and Rabo
What ultimately matters for you as an employee is the total wage growth: the combination of both individual and collective wage increases. The graph below illustrates this for various relevant CLAs, specifically for someone who started at the bottom of the salary scale in 2020.
As an employee at ING, you received a total wage increase of 19% over three years. Although this might initially seem attractive, a comparison with other CLAs presents a less favorable picture. At ABN AMRO and Rabo, the wage increase ranges from 25% to 36%. At the national government, the increase was even 45%, a difference with ING of three months’ wages.
Justification:
- The figures for inflation and average CLA wages in the Netherlands are sourced from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).
- The figures for collective and individual wage increases at other companies come from the relevant CLAs. Where individual pay is dependent on performance, the most common job evaluation score was assumed.
ING granted a differentiated collective wage increase in 2023. In our graphs, we assumed an average increase of 4%, all employees received at least this percentage. Pension indexation over 2023 was also calculated at 4% collective salary increase.
Fair distribution – the development of profit and profit distribution to shareholders
One method for determining the level of the wage claim is to look at external factors, such as purchasing power development and wage trends at other companies. Inflation can serve as a benchmark, and comparing wages with the market provides insight into our position. However, these are external indicators that do not take into account the specific economic situation of the company.
Another approach is to base the wage claim on the company’s financial performance. If a company is facing difficult times, a wage claim focused on improving purchasing power or market competitiveness may not be realistic. Wage moderation might be necessary to ensure the company’s survival. But what if the company is performing very well? Should we then also share in the successes? This is a relevant question when formulating a wage claim that considers both external and internal conditions.
The table to the right shows the development of net profit for ING over the past years, with 2018 as the reference point. In addition to net profit, the table also includes distributions to shareholders, consisting of dividends and share buybacks. Finally, the table also displays the wage development within ING over the same period. This comparative overview provides insight into how the company’s financial performance and shareholder rewards relate to the wage increases for employees.
In summary, we see that the net profit of ING in 2023 is more than 50% higher than in 2018. While shareholders have received a substantial increase of 150% in distributions, employees, on the other hand, have only seen a 10% collective wage increase during the same period. These figures indicate that employees have benefited less from the positive financial results over the past years compared to shareholders. Based on this analysis, there is still much to be done for ING employees in terms of a fair distribution of the profits.
Encourage your colleagues to participate
The more employees who fill out the survey, the better De Unie can demonstrate to ING how we justify our wage request for the upcoming CLA. Therefore, it’s important that you also share this message with your colleagues and ask them to complete the survey. De Unie will, of course, treat all information confidentially.
Always stay informed! Sign up directly for our WhatsApp group “De Unie @ ING” so we can keep you updated on the latest news. Signing up is very easy.
Contact
Do you have questions about this message? Please contact us by sending an email to: mandy.raaijmakers@unie.nl or inge.de.vries@unie.nl
