Employers' org.: Government should not employ cleaners

Employers in the cleaning industry want the government to reverse the decision to employ permanent cleaners from next year, said Piet Adema, president of the employers' organization OSB to NU on Thursday. Minister Lodewijk Asscher of Social Affairs plans to have the government itself employ cleaners from next year, instead of hiring cleaning companies. With this move the government wants to offer flex workers more job security with permanent contracts and set a good example for other companies. But according to OSB, job security and working conditions are already properly regulated for their employees. "80 percent of the employees are on permanent contracts, the collective bargaining agreement pays 120 percent of the minimum wage and a lot is invested in training", he said to NU. A spokesperson for Asscher told the newspaper that the government hiring cleaners itself was a political decision that will not be reversed, even with OSB now raising questions about the government's arguments to do so. "The government believes that employees who work in a Ministry's building all day, also belong to the organization. They must be given the same rights as permanent employees", the spokesperson said. "We therefore want to collaborate as closely as possible with the current employers to make the transition go smoothly." Should this decision go through, the cleaning sector will lose 70 million euros in annual turnover.