Dutch construction workers close to having new CBA

The BWI-affiliated FNV Bouwen and Wonen reported that it reached an agreement with construction industry employers in their collective bargaining negotiations. If approved by its members and workers in the construction sector, a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is expected to take effect on 1 January 2021. 

Some the provisions of the new CBA include a 2 percent, annual wage increase, a pro ratio gross bonus of EUR 350 in December and an early retirement package available to 11, 000 site workers.

The union said that the current legal pension age is 66, one month pay for every year of service. In the new CBA, as part of the post-financial crisis austerity measure, this will be increased to 4 months pay for each year of service after 2022. By 2024, legal pension age will be 67. This preludes a national tripartite agreement on the overall reform of the pension scheme that the FNV parliamentarians will deliberate for approval on 4 July. If the pension premiums are increased, it will be done on a fifty-fifty split between employers and workers.  Currently, two thirds are paid by the employers.