Dutch truck drivers agree pay rises


Unions and employers in the Netherlands have reached agreement on a new three-year deal for truck drivers which will increase basic pay but will see the extra payments for overtime fall. 


The deal, which was signed on 8 March, covers around 140,000 drivers and runs for three years for 1 January 2017 until 31 December 2019. Basic pay will go by 2.0% on 1 July 2017 and by a further 2.0% on both 1 January 2018 and 1 January 2019. 


At the same time the pay structure will be revised, also in three stages, to produce a total 4.0% increase over the period of the agreement. With inflation currently at 1.8% (February), the deal clearly means a real-terms increase on basic pay.


However, the position on earnings may be different as overall premia are halved from the current 30% to 15% in the same three stages, and there are also a series of other changes.


The unions, therefore, have mixed feelings on the deal, which brings together two previously separate agreements. Egon Groen from the largest Dutch union FNV said that, “despite the improvements there are some employees who will be negatively affected … those who do overtime or get other bonuses”. 


However, there is a welcome from the unions for the fact that more elements of the deal will apply to drivers seconded from abroad.