CNV halts labor actions for early retirement; FNV polling members
Labor union CNV announced on Friday that it will suspend planned strikes and demonstrations regarding the expiring early retirement scheme for people with intense occupations. A similar decision is also developing at the FNV labor union, which will discuss the issue on Friday evening with its strike council and delegated strike leaders.
They will decide during the meeting whether there is “sufficient confidence to suspend new strikes until December 1,” a spokesperson said. The FNV held a meeting on Thursday evening about the Dutch early retirement scheme known as RVU.
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment and the employers’ association VNO-NCW were present, among others. “We cannot make any statements about the content of the meeting with the minister,” the spokesperson said.
CNV Chair Piet Fortuin said “constructive discussions” are taking place about the RVU. “These discussions give us enough confidence to suspend the planned actions. However, we are not there yet,” Fortuin stated.
“CNV will continue to work hard in the coming period to achieve the best possible arrangement for our members in tough professions.”
The current early retirement scheme, which allows people who have been doing physically taxing work for a long time to retire earlier than the state pension age, will expire at the end of next year. They are currently still entitled to a benefit to bridge the period until the state pension age. At the beginning of September, the unions rejected a new proposal from the Cabinet, saying the distance between the parties was still too great to continue negotiations.
That was followed by strikes in several sectors with a major impact. Police officers went on strike during football matches, and railway company NS and regional carriers faced work stoppages. New actions were planned for the week of October 14 to 20.
