A meeting between the minister of labour and the three main unions came to an abrupt halt after union representatives walked out in protest. The unions – OGBL, LCGB and CGFP – left the room during discussions on the national action plan designed to expand collective bargaining coverage in line with the European Minimum Wage Directive. One of the key components of the Directive is to increase the proportion of employees covered by collective agreements to at least 80%, up from the current 53%. The unions voiced concerns over the minister’s approach, accusing him of sidelining their input. The unions demanded clarity from the minister on whether he intended to allow individual employees or neutral delegates – those not affiliated with a union – to negotiate agreements without union support.
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For more information, please contact Paul de Beer or Oana Ciuca, De Burcht (Scientific Bureau for the Dutch Trade Union Movement) p.t.debeer@uva.nl or the Head of communications at the ETUI, Mehmet Koksal mkoksal@etui.org. For previous full issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit https://www.etui.org/Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter or consult the archive with all articles in our database at www.cbnarchive.eu.
You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org.