Collective Bargaining in the Netherlands During COVID-19: Negotiator Survey

Abstract

This research report is intended to examine the degree to which the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced the negotiation process concerning collective labor agreements in The Netherlands. Like many other countries in Europe and worldwide, the Netherlands saw significant disruption in economic activity due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent periods of lockdowns from 2020 to 2022. This crisis situation, particularly in the early stages of the pandemic, often complicated the process of renewing collective agreements, occasionally stalling negotiations.

In addition to changes in the content of the agreements, as discussed in the accompanying report that compares specific clauses before and after the pandemic (see Jansen, 2023), this report will address whether the COVID-19 pandemic has also affected the process of renewing Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) and the broader climate of social dialogue. This report conducts a thorough investigation into the renewal process of collective agreements in The Netherlands, utilizing survey data collected from negotiators. In total, the research encompassed 93 negotiators involved in 63 different agreements. The respondents present a balanced representation of negotiation parties in the Dutch labour market. Approximately half of the Dutch respondents were affiliated with a trade union or another organization representing employees. In contrast, the remaining half were associated with employer organizations or independent business.

The results from the survey provide significant insights into the renewal process of CBAs during the pandemic, revealing the impacts of COVID-19 on labour negotiation dynamics. The findings reveal that the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the negotiation process for collective agreements in the Netherlands, with about half of the surveyed negotiators reporting that it made negotiations more challenging. However, the majority considered the pandemic a significant, yet not the sole factor affecting negotiations. Quarantine measures were also seen as an impediment to negotiator availability, potentially increasing negotiation difficulty. Moreover, the pandemic's economic fallout, characterized by decreased revenue and disruptions in production or service delivery, influenced the negotiation context. However, negotiators' perceptions of these economic changes and governmental support packages did not significantly impact the perceived ease or difficulty of negotiations. The most vital negotiation topics were wages, followed by working hours/schedules, and work-life balance arrangements.