Collective labor agreement negotiations for primary education resumed
Negotiations for a new collective labor agreement have resumed. “There is and will continue to be a structural need for additional money from The Hague,” says AOb- director Thijs Roovers. “But we cannot wait forever for the arrival of a new cabinet.”
The social partners – trade unions and employers – today agreed joint statement managed to resume collective labor agreements for primary education. Those negotiations had been halted for some time, because there was no money to close the pay gap.
The new cabinet must come up with structural extra money to make the teaching profession more attractive
“For many years there has been a gap between the salaries of primary school teachers and the salaries of their second-degree colleagues in secondary education,” says Roovers. “While work in primary education is certainly no easier than work in secondary education. And while you need a comparable HBO diploma for both types of education.”
Manifest
In March this year, the trade unions and the PO Council presented a joint manifest, in which politicians were once again called upon to close the pay gap. The new cabinet should come up with structural extra money to make the profession of primary school teacher more attractive, and thus combat the teacher shortage.
juttemis
But that new cabinet is still not there. “And we can't wait until Sint Juttemis”, says AOb-driver Rovers. “We are now going to sit down with employers to see what we can do for the sector at the moment. With the life-size caveat that it will be too little to close the pay gap.”
Roovers expects the new cabinet to take up this issue with great priority. “Our manifesto, of trade unions and employers together, still applies. The teacher shortage is only going to get worse, and we can't just solve that at the collective labor agreement."