Dutch union calls for largest pay increase for 30 years


FNV, the biggest union confederation in the Netherlands, which also operates as a union in its own right, has called on its negotiators to press for pay increases of at least 5% increase in 2019, with a minimum increase of at least €100 a month. This is the highest target that the FNV has set for 30 years, and is well above the 3.5% that FNV negotiators have been aiming for this year. 


Zakaria Boufangacha, the FNV’s new coordinator for working conditions argues that the higher increase is justified. “Wages have been lagging behind for years. This is a way to catch up,” he says. He also points to generally higher inflation, which was 1.9% in September 2018 and the strong performance of the economy. 


Overall, the latest figures from the CBS statistical office show that collectively agreed pay in the third quarter of 2018 was 2.2% higher than in the same period in 2017, the biggest increase recorded since 2009.