Earlier this month we informed our members about the talks between Maersk and De Unie with a view to a new CLA for Maersk Line after the expiration of the current CLA on March 31, 2024.
De Unie’s proposal letter, which you can read back here, was based on the extensive DigiC survey conducted among Maersk employees in 2023. You can read the final report of this survey here.
No room for negotiation
On March 4 a meeting took place in which the proposals of De Unie were elaborated to Maersk. Last week Maersk responded to these proposals with a final offer. This means that Maersk’s response is also their last offer, and there is no more room for negotiation.
The contents of the final offer and the position of The Union
Income
Maersk’s final offer for the upcoming CLA period (April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025) consists mainly of a wage offer for salary increase and bonus (OMBP). Maersk Line is making a budget of 4.86% available for structural salary increases. This percentage is not applied equally everywhere but may be higher or lower per individual based on performance or other circumstances. This is assessed on a case-by-case basis by the manager.
If we set the 4.86% against an inflation rate in 2023 of 3.9%, this offer responds well to the desire of the vast majority of respondents that price increases should at least be compensated. However, it should be kept in mind that in the last CLA period there was a 7% budget against a high inflation rate of 10% in 2022. This comparatively higher increase does not correct for the earlier stagnation.
Bonus
Everyone will receive an 80% bonus (OMBP).
Other points
Although there is a workable wage increase and a bonus, we as De Unie must note that Maersk’s response (and final offer) on the other points is disappointing.
We made a number of qualitative proposals to improve the CLA, based on the employees’ polled wishes, but Maersk responded to all these proposals with a hard no.
Particularly because Maersk Line NL faces budgetary constraints from its parent company in Denmark, we have tried to seek solutions in qualitative proposals that fit the wishes of the Maersk employee population, such as variability in holidays, extra room for personal and professional development and health and vitality. These points also came up during our talks last year but did not make it through then. There was an indication that there would be room for them in the next collective bargaining process. We are disappointed that this is not the case this year.
Voting
All employees will be contacted by the independent research firm InnerVoice with an invitation to vote. Voting is open until Monday, March 25, 2024.
In conclusion
Last year we had to conclude that there was little room to negotiate the collective labor agreement 2023-2024. This was mainly due to the limited room Maersk Line NL had from Maersk Global. The hope was that there would be more to negotiate for this collective bargaining round for 2024-2025. After all, we started the process earlier, and the Maersk employees’ wishes as they came out of the survey have been known since July 2023. Yet we have still not been able to reach further agreements on these issues. This is very disappointing. Maersk has indicated it wants to enter into talks in the summer of 2024 with a view to 2025. De Unie is willing to accept this, and with that hopes for an indication of goodwill from Maersk to take significant steps next year.
Contact
If you have any questions regarding this message, please contact one of us: Jan Admiraal jan.admiraal@unie.nl of Peter Werger peter.werger@unie.nl
