The wages in collective bargaining agreements concluded in the first half of 2025 increased by an average of 4.1 percent, NU.nl reported after evaluating the agreements. Trade union FNV is not satisfied and is still pushing for a 7 percent increase at the collective bargaining tables.
According to the trade union, most employees have not yet been sufficiently compensated for the high inflation, and their purchasing power has declined considerably in recent years. But many employers are reluctant to offer higher increases, complaining about unsustainable and rising wage costs.
“This shows that employers are not yet prepared to pay employees their fair share. Our wage of 7 percent is not without reason. We need a wage increase of approximately 4 percent to make up for the inflation of the past period,” Petra Bolster of FNV told the newspaper. “We think it is high time that people start to get ahead after three years of suffering, and that requires more than 4.1 percent. That is also perfectly possible, because most sectors are earning rough money and government finances are in good shape.”
The trade union is satisfied with the progress made in tackling work pressure in several collective labor agreements. For the first time, FNV made agreements to investigate how the work week can be shortened. The idea is a 4-day work week, but focuses more on reducing working hours without losing income. The collective labor agreements at ING, the hospitals, Kalkzandsteen, and the Red Cross include this provision.
According to Bolster, this is very necessary. “We hear from people on the work floor that the workload is still very high. People are dropping out because of it,” she said. “The first steps have been taken, and we are very happy about that. Experiences abroad also show that absenteeism is decreasing, shortages are decreasing, and everyone benefits from working a little less. Time for us to learn lessons from this here in the Netherlands instead of pushing people until they collapse.”