Narrow majority agrees to new collective labor agreement for universities
The new collective labor agreement for Dutch universities has been completed AObmembers adopted by a narrow majority. In total, 58,8 percent voted in favor of the new collective labor agreement, 41,2 percent rejected the agreement. The AObsector council, which gives the final verdict, approved the agreement.
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In mid-May, the negotiators known that an agreement had been reached for a new collective labor agreement. The agreements included a wage increase of 4 percent for all university employees and a study into improving the legal position of lecturers at universities. All institutions must participate.
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A large part of the AObmembers voted against the agreement. First of all, they think the wage increase of 4 percent is too low. “That is due to the high inflation, which means that 4 percent offers too little compensation,” says AObsector director Donald Pechler.
However, the most resistance concerned the study appointment. The voters who voted against would much rather have seen a concrete collective labor agreement about permanent jobs for teachers. Pechler: “It is very abrasive: we see colleagues leave, even though the work they do is structural work and universities receive fixed funding for it. We would have preferred to have made a concrete appointment ourselves. Members are right to question employers, but also us. The study agreement is a small step forward now that the options for more permanent jobs are also being explored nationally.”
It chafes enormously: we see colleagues leave, while the work they do is structural work
Permanent jobs
The research will start in September and a start has already been made on formulating the research question. The AOb wants to create more permanent jobs for teachers. The unions are already making agreements about this locally with a number of universities. Pechler: “We assume that the research will lead to outcomes that will enable us to make concrete agreements in a subsequent collective labor agreement to create more permanent jobs for teachers.”
In addition to the AOb the other unions and the employers' organization University of the Netherlands also agreed to the agreement. The new collective labor agreement will run from April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023.
View the CLA page For more information. The collective labor agreement booklet is published on this page.
