The FNV has issued an ultimatum to dairy companies. If they do not agree on a good collective labor agreement and wage increase with the FNV before Wednesday, April 26, 12.00:XNUMX p.m., the employees will take action.
The ultimatum has been sent to the NZO (Dutch Dairy Organisation). The dairy companies do not want to give their staff more than an 8% salary increase this year. That's just too little. Entrepreneurs themselves drive inflation by raising their prices sharply. This is how they want to maintain their profits or, better still, make more profit. And then telling employees they can't give them higher wages. Of course that makes no sense,'' says Ron Vos, director at FNV Food Industry in the press release of that organization.
FNV and CNV members rejected the offer of an 8% salary increase through a vote. On behalf of the employees, the FNV is demanding a collective labor agreement for one year from January 1, 2023, with salaries rising by 14,3% and henceforth rising in line with prices in the store. A higher end-of-year bonus, a system of leave savings, a scheme that allows older employees to retire earlier and more permanent contracts for temporary workers are also on the wish list of the union.
Last final bid
As far as the NZO is concerned, there is nothing to negotiate, the employers' organization makes clear in a message on its own website. ''The NZO has taken a major extra step to provide clarity and to maintain peace. This is the ultimate bid.'' And: 'The current final bid is the maximum.'
The organization calls the ultimatum unnecessary and inappropriate for the situation. "The dairy sector already has a collective labor agreement that is above the national average. The improved final offer means another above-average increase." keep the industry. No one benefits from a situation in which employers and employees are opposed to each other."
Do not complain
"In the period from 2009 to 2021, the employers stated that we as trade unions should not complain when it came to the wage increases offered at the time. After all, they were above the level of inflation. The result was a wage development that was only slightly above the inflation rate during that period. inflation came out," says Vos.
"Now that inflation is going through the roof and we are proposing a wage increase that compensates for inflation, employers are not giving in. As the wind blows, so do the jackets of the dairy employers."
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