Agreement provides for a 10 percent wage increase for primary education
All teaching staff will receive a 1 percent pay increase retroactively from July 2023, 10. Education employees will also see a one-off payment on their pay slip in November this year and the travel allowance will go from 12 to 17 cents per kilometer.
Check the collective labor agreement news for secondary education here
“This is an excellent agreement. The threat of strikes helped. Uniting together and banging your fist on the table really helps,” says AObdirector Thijs Roovers.
Picture: Type tank
Since this afternoon there has been a negotiating agreement for primary education. The agreements on wages and travel expenses also apply to all colleagues in secondary education. In addition, Roovers negotiated on substantive points that only apply to primary education. The agreement will run from May 1, 2023 to October 1, 2024, which is the same for both sectors.
The strike on October 5 is over
Roovers: “The negotiations took quite a while. A cabinet fell, we sent an ultimatum letter and announced a strike. Now there is an agreement that I can positively present to my supporters.” The previously announced strike on October 5 is now cancelled, but there will be actions leading up to the elections to put education high on the agenda of political parties.
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Loon
The hot issue was the agreement about wages. All teaching staff will receive a 10 percent salary increase. “This will take effect retroactively as of July 1, 2023 and will be reflected in pay slips in October,” explains the AObdriver out. “This helps colleagues who were walking around the supermarket with their hands in their hair.” A one-off payment has also been agreed for November 2023. “Colleagues in the lowest salary scales - scale 1 to 5 - receive 1000 euros gross for full-time employment. For colleagues in scales 6 to 9 it is 600 euros and for everyone from scale 10 it is 350 euros.”
Travel expenses
Not only wages are increasing, travel costs have also increased - and this means a deeply cherished wish is coming true. The reimbursement per kilometer was 12 cents and is now 17 cents. “It is not nearly enough to reimburse all travel costs, but we have really taken a nice step.”
Travel costs will also increase, making a deeply cherished wish come true
Before and after work
Content-related agreements have also been made for primary education. This was desperately needed after four agreements with a main focus on salary and little attention to the content of the profession. Work pressure, for example: an important theme. In this agreement, Roovers has stated very specifically what 'pre- and post-work' (the surcharge factor per lesson) entails. “These are no parent meetings, no school trips or Christmas celebrations,” he says. “That only involves preparing lessons, marking tests or evaluating a lesson. We saw that a lot of things were being subsumed under this term at some schools, and we are now providing clarity.”
Pre- and post-work therefore does not involve parent meetings, school trips or St. Nicholas celebrations
It has also been agreed with the PO council that there will be an investigation into the matter division of labor plan. “We want to evaluate and see how we can make it easier for colleagues.”
Supporters
Furthermore, there will be a policy for paying educational assistants who - often due to the teacher shortage - run a class alone. “We often receive examples of colleagues who run a class, but do not get paid for it,” says Roovers. That has to be different. “We naturally believe that only authorized personnel should be in the classroom. That remains our position, but if support staff are deployed due to shortages, you cannot fob them off with a book voucher at the end of the year. We don't want it to happen, but if it does happen, you have to pay those colleagues for their work.”
If support staff are deployed due to shortages, you cannot fob them off with a book voucher
Participate honestly
For colleagues with a participation job - they are more distant from the labor market - much fairer agreements are now on paper. “They now also receive an end-of-year bonus and holiday pay. We are putting an end to the separate salary scales for this group that, like us, does a lot of work.”
Interns in education must receive a decent internship allowance. The AOb demands a compensation of 750 euros gross for a full-time internship in all sectors. “Interns already received compensation in the government, but in a sector with shortages the red carpet must have been rolled out for new colleagues. Not paying an internship allowance is unacceptable. That is why there must be an internship fund.” It has been agreed that starting school leaders will also be eligible for good guidance, so that they do not drop out prematurely.
Grief and transition
The negotiators also ensured that bereavement leave has been extended. “The current collective labor agreement states that you get a day off if a first-line family member dies. Now this applies to a 'dear one'. There was nothing at all in the collective labor agreement about the transition. “Yet this is a topic for many employees. Employees must be able to talk to employers about this and there must be good employment practices.”
This is a nice agreement. We made a strong fist, being united in a union helps enormously
Poll
“We worked really hard,” says Roovers. “Now it's the members' turn." All AObMembers will receive an email today with an invitation to the poll. This runs until September 21. The sector council will then speak AOb comments on the negotiating agreement. “This is a nice agreement. We made a strong fist, being united in a union helps a lot."
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Watch the explanation again!
The collective labor agreement negotiators explain the agreements in detail and answer questions.
