The FNV Bondgenoten union and European Container Terminals (ECT), subsidiary of Hongkong-based Hutchison Whampoa with its main container-handling facilities in the Rotterdam port, have reached a basic accord for a collective agreement. The agreement covers 2,400 employees and 3.5 years, from 1 April 2009 to 1 October 2012. It includes a wage increase of 1.42% backdated 1 April 2009, increases for 2010 and 2011 of 1% each, and an increase of the basic monthly wage of Euro 20 by 1 May 2012. Pension rights will be lifted considerably, the employer will fully take over sickness insurance fees, and improvements in shop-floor safety have been agreed. Further, a joint study will be undertaken on the impact of the Second Maas Plain, the major Rotterdam port expansion under way, on incomes and job security of port workers, as many in the ECT workforce are concerned about the over-capacity effects of this expansion. Niek Stam, FNV Bondgenoten officer, comments: “It took nine negotiation rounds and a number of short strikes, but in the end the result is satisfying.” ECT kept out of a sectoral agreement, which was an earlier union demand. The deadline for the membership ballot is the end of May.
Dutch: De Volkskrant, 22 April 2010; http://www.fnvbondgenoten.nl/branches_bedrijven/branches/vervoer/havens/eindelijk_resultaat_21_4/
For more information, please contact the editor Maarten van Klaveren, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) M.vanKlaveren@uva.nl. You may find further information on the ETUI atwww.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net. © ETUI aisbl, Brussels 2009.