Labour talks in the metal sector

Currently, about 300,000 employees in the metal industry work without a collective labour agreement. Negotiations between the trade union Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging (FNV) and employers were broken off after five rounds.

On 20 March 2015, HRbase.nl reported that the FNV refused employers’ calculations. The negotiators demand a wage increase of 3% in a year. However, according to union representative Jacqie van Stigt, employers do not want to go beyond two small salary raises within two years. Furthermore, she claims that they are not willing to raise the low youth wages.

The collective labour agreement procedure only affects small metal companies, as larger companies have their own labour agreements. The agreement should have been reached on 1 March. The union is now consulting with its members on the following steps.