Unions insist on national early retirement for hard physical labor; Employers hesitant

Dutch labor unions FNV, CNV, and VCP gave an ultimatum to the government on Wednesday. The unions want the Dutch State to do more to reach a permanent arrangement for people with hard physical labor jobs who want to retire earlier. If this does not happen, then strikes could follow in various sectors. Caretaker Minister Carola Schouten, who handles pension policy, said she will speak with the unions and employers.

The current Early Retirement Scheme (RVU) expires at the end of next year. Due to this, people who have performed hard labor jobs can retire at an earlier age. They have a right to a benefit meant to bridge the gap until the AOW pension age. Currently, the arrangement is only for people born between 1955 and 1961. The group is allowed to quit working three years before the AOW age to use the RVU.

The unions have pleaded for a structural arrangement, mainly because this has been agreed upon in the government-signed Pension Act. The arrangement also needs to be broader, FNV chair Piet Rietman explained. "The fiscal exemption is so low right now that it is not achievable from a financial standpoint to stop earlier. Our supporters are done: their knees are finished, or they have rhythm disorders, but they have to go on."

According to Rietman, negotiations about a new arrangement with employers' organizations stalled in December, and no progress has been made since then. He hopes the ultimatum will make the State "take a step forward."

If no steps are taken, the first courses of action will happen in May and June. Rietman explained that they could be small in scale, like stopping work for a few hours, but those actions could grow to "strikes that disturb the Dutch economy."

These actions will take place in sectors such as construction, police, public transport, and harbors. "We want to give the new Cabinet a chance to come up with something. But if nothing is agreed in the coalition agreements, more strikes will follow, which will also last longer," Rietman added.

To prevent an escalation of the actions, the unions are putting the ball in the government's court. But Rietman also alleged that the government is on the side of the employers, and not necessarily the workers. "The State keeps saying that the unions should figure it out with the employers. But we have nothing to say to each other anymore."

A spokesperson for Minster Schouten said they will invite employers and union reps together to discuss measures to help people get their pension safely.

The employers organizations VNO-NCW, MKB-Nederland, and the the Netherlands Agricultural and Horticultural Association (LTO) feel the ultimatum is premature. "The solutions could have already been there," the business organizations wrote in a letter to their members.

"We cannot see this as anything other than just focusing on actions and not taking agreements made and constructive consultation seriously," the letter states. "With that, they leave the people that this is concerning in the cold."

The employers pointed out Schouten's promise to bring the unions and employers together after May 1 for discussions.

"In the last few weeks—as was the agreement—technical and informative conversations have occurred between the ministry, the trade unions, and the employers' organizations. These conversations will continue for the coming period. FNV has chosen not to be a part of these informal discussions, despite the agreements made," the employers state.

They called it "incomprehensible" that an ultimatum had been made before the conversations between the minister and the presidents started.

The ultimatum ends on May 14 at 4:30 p.m.