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We need a pay and benefit freeze for all, says employers leaderThursday 09 February 2012 It is high time there was a national agreement on an across-the-board pay freeze, employers’ leader Bernard Wientjes says in a letter in Thursday’s Trouw. It would show tremendous responsibility if ‘the crippled FNV trade unions’ could join forces with other groups and go for a solidarity agreement in which ‘government salaries, social security benefits and private sector wages would be frozen,’ the VNO-NCW chairman said. That would not only mean the pain would be shared, but it would also be a major financial benefit. In addition, it would ‘make it possible to move to the necessary reforms and not end up in an unproductive battle of words and short-term savings,’ he said. The FNV said last September it would target a 2.5% rise in this year’s pay negotiations, largely to offset the effect of inflation. Federation chairwoman Agnes Jongerius said on Thursday a pay and benefit freeze would damage the economy. 'If people have less in their pockets, which is what a pay freeze means, then they stop spending money en masse,' Jongerius said. © DutchNews.nl
Oh Jolly Good! What solidarity! But before we wrap our heads around this novel idea, it would be prudent to make sure that all prices and costs on goods and services are frozen first...and we know that's not going to happen. only the rich folks have little to lose. By AW | February 9, 2012 9:43 AM Oh great! By Donaugh | February 9, 2012 10:51 AM A great idea: as costs & services increase & wages remain the same, less purchase power, reduction in manufacturing & services and more redundancies = more people dependent on unemployment benefit. By The visitor | February 9, 2012 12:38 PM Infalation hovering between 2.5 and 2.9% - yeah brilliant, let's freeze all workers pay and let the costs keep going up and up. This guy Wientjes probably earns 300 or 400k per year so what difference would it make to him? This is the Republican-like type of thinking that is going around these days in NL. Complete and utter nonsense. A 10 year old child could come up with a better sloution. By Bill | February 9, 2012 1:43 PM I agree with most of the comments here, a pay-freeze doesn't mean anything without bringing the daily living cost down along with such a wage freeze. By Quince | February 9, 2012 4:30 PM The upper earners would buy an Audi instead of a Lamborbini and the lower eaners more rice and less cheese. Wientjes is really living in a bubble or maybe he wants to preserve his bubble! By Colin | February 9, 2012 5:14 PM sure. if the 1% are willing to donate 95% of their wealth to kick starting the economy as well. And the CEOs and upper management are willing to take a 95% pay cut. Sure...that would be an even trade. By H. | February 9, 2012 5:46 PM I will agree to this if they also agree to maximum national salary limit of say, 100,000 Euros. By fatdba | February 9, 2012 6:21 PM Teachers in NL have had a 'pay freeze' (in essence a pay cut) for the last 3 years running - take it from me it's a serious struggle when almost everything else around you has risen in price. By Anna | February 9, 2012 8:53 PM ANother pay freeze? Inflation is running at at least 10% in real terms (tax, medical costs, insurance, petrol etc). More like we all need a 20% pay rise so we get parity with the very high inflation in Holland in the last twelve years. By Joe Noes | February 10, 2012 12:48 PM
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Well how about a cost freeze then too. All items that go via state- like tax on car health insurance, petrol/road tax etc. childcare support... Freeze the cost side of everything at first!
By Ozzy | February 9, 2012 9:01 AM