Dutch union pushes for big pay rise

The FNV, the largest union body in the Netherlands, has called for a 5% pay increase next year in organisations that have done well out of the Covid-19 crisis, and a redistribution of work in those which have faced difficulties. Zakaria Boufangacha, who co-ordinates FNV negotiations with employers, says that the union does not want the costs of the crisis “to be passed on to working people” and that the country that emerges from the crisis must be more socially just.

The FNV traditionally presents its wage demands for the coming year in mid-September and in the past called only for modest increases. But, since 2018 it has pushed for larger rises, with some success. The latest figures for the 12 months to August show collectively agreed rates rising by 3.3% at a time when prices were rising by 0.7% and the Dutch central bank’s inflation forecast for the whole of 2020 is just 0.8%.