AObmembers want money from the covenant to go to the workplace
AOb-Members want the money from the covenant to reach the workplace quickly and completely. AObChairman Eugenie Stolk concludes: "This quickly calls for a collective labor agreement in primary education and vague agreements in secondary education must become concrete." Apart from that, actions are still necessary, Stolk emphasizes. "As long as there are no structural solutions, structural actions are needed."
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De 460 million of education minister Arie Slob (ChristenUnie) contains almost exclusively incidental money. How it is spent has yet to be worked out. In the member poll that the AOb members in primary education indicate -97 percent- that the incidental wage increase of 150 million euros should reach all staff this year.
In secondary education, members are mainly concerned about the vague agreements about the 150 million euros for work pressure relief. That money should not go to the boards, 92 percent say. Instead, firm agreements must be made in the collective labor agreement.
Temporary increase
The one-off 150 million euros for secondary education is -in the AOb rejected covenant - agreed that this will be transferred as a temporary increase in the lump sum. Subsequently, the money can be used 'with the active involvement of the teaching staff' for a range of purposes. For example, for more development time, workload relief, guidance for starting teachers, guidance for lateral entrants, educational innovation or measures on labor market issues.
Vague agreements
Executive director of secondary education Henrik de Moel fully understands that members want to see the spending of the money in the collective labor agreement regulated instead of these kinds of vague agreements. "They have seen too often that extra money that goes to the school boards via the lump sum does not end up on the work floor. It is also strange that only teaching staff are allowed to participate, is there no work pressure among the education support staff? We do not want such vague agreements times don't let pass, there we go like AOb make a case for it at the collective bargaining table."
AObmembers have seen too often that extra money that goes to the school boards via the lump sum does not end up on the work floor
In primary education, discussions have been going on for months about a new collective labor agreement, containing agreements about a general salary increase, special measures for support staff and school directors and the position of special secondary education (VSO). Consultations were held in June stopped, because there was not enough money to take a real step forward.
Purchasing power
In the meantime, there is the normal amount (around 285 million euros) for the normal salary increase to maintain purchasing power, plus the incidental 150 million euros from the AOb rejected contract. When asked whether the union should include these amounts in collective bargaining agreements this year, the members therefore answered 'yes' en masse.
Not enough
"I am happy with that. We can now try to ensure that the money that is available will reach the members this year at the negotiating table," says Stolk, in addition to AOb-chairman is currently also a collective labor agreement negotiator for primary education. "But we also know that it is not enough to close the pay gap with secondary education. Without structural money, we will not solve the problems for primary education."
The only structural amount that the covenant has, 16,5 million euros by diploma-oriented secondary special education, takes more time to make sense of the CLA. The AOb has called on members in the survey to think about this in the coming months, as a result of which a group of almost 200 members from VSO is now actively involved in the collective labor agreement agreements.
