The biggest Dutch trade union federation FNV has ruled out making any more agreements with employers about relaxing Dutch rules on redundancy, the Telegraaf said on Thursday.

Deputy chairman Mariette Patijn told the paper that the union is prepared to talk about encouraging employers to take on more permanent staff but that there will be no general agreement on labour market reform.

‘Everything gets lumped together and we are not going to make any changes to agreements which employers have already signed,’ she said. ‘Changing the rules on redundancy will only lead to more flexible contracts.’

The paper said 40% of the sector-wide pay and conditions agreements struck between the unions and employers this year include clauses on increasing employee security. In addition, wages have risen by an average 1.7%.

Nevertheless, Patijn said many workers have not benefited from the pay rise. ‘People on zero hour contracts, people on call-out contracts and temporary employees still have a far too low wage,’ she said.