Biggest Dutch union targets a 7% pay rise and 32 hour week

The FNV will aim for a four day week and a 7% wage rise in the coming round of pay negotiations, the biggest Dutch trade union federation said on Monday.

A 32-hour week is particularly important in the healthcare sector to improve the work life balance, the union said.

“Wages have been trailing for years because there has been no real improvement in spending power,” chief negotiator Zakaria Boufangacha told the AD. “To make sure people actually have more to disposable income, we are aiming for an improvement in spending power, rather than maintaining the current level.”

The union also wants the minimum wage to rise to €16, so that “people with the lowest incomes benefit the most”.

The introduction of a four-day week will benefit productivity, reduce absenteeism and make a full-time job more attractive, Boufangacha said. “Part-timers are also more likely to go up to a 30 or 32-hour week and older workers can stay on longer.”

Last week, the second biggest Dutch union federation, the CNV, said it is aiming for wage rises of between 3.5% and 6% in the coming pay negotiations round.

The union will also call for a two-hour shorter standard working week and for people to be given a permanent contract after 12 months on the job, chairman Piet Fortuin said on Friday.