The new government’s commitment to freezing civil service salaries from the beginning of 2011 will be impossible because many pay deals run until mid 2011 or even into 2012, the Volkskrant reports on Tuesday.

Outgoing prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende ‘had counted on a pay freeze for 2010 and that did not happen,’FNV union negotiator Erik Pentenga told the paper.
Civil service pay rose an average 1.7% in the third quarter of this year, compared with an across-the-board pay rise of 1.3%.
Council workers
Among the pay deals which run until well into 2011 is the local authority agreement, which covers 118,000 workers. Bin men went on strike this year in protest at the planned salary freeze and won a rise.
Teachers and police officers pay will also be on the table mid year.
But the pay deal for national government officials, which is due to come into effect on January 1, is likely to be the first major test of the policy, the paper says.
The pay talks are due to begin shortly and unions have already said they are aiming for a rise of between 1.5% and 2%.