Employees of metal companies in Groningen stop work for 24 hours, employers do not budge: ‘Metal simply has to pay decently’

From 8 a.m. onwards, participants in the strike could register at Hotel Faber in Hoogezand. According to FNV director Masja Zwart, the call to stop work was responded to en masse. Members of the unions drove up in parades from, among others, Eekels Technology in Kolham and technical service provider Spie from Sappemeer.

After registration, coffee and the inevitable ball sandwich, there are speeches and TikTok Tammo tries to get the crowd moving. A speaker asks those present their age. There appear to be a striking number of people in their fifties and sixties in the room. The lack of young people suggests that they would rather opt for other work.

More strikers than three years ago

“We have about four hundred people here. That is more than the previous actions three years ago. And there is a great willingness to take action, you can hear that on all sides. These employees are also entitled to better pay and that is what they are going for,” says Zwart.

FNV and CNV demand a wage increase of 10.1 percent and 100 euros gross per month. According to the unions, this is necessary to restore the purchasing power of the members. This has been significantly eroded by inflation in recent years. They also want automatic price compensation, abolition of the youth wage and better regulations for heavy work.

After four rounds of negotiations, talks with employers about a new collective labor agreement for Metal and Technology came to a standstill last month. If the 24-hour actions have no effect, the unions want to organize work stoppages of 48 hours.

Employers cannot bear this

The employers think this is all going too far. “The unions are sticking to a wage demand of 13 percent. In doing so they place themselves outside reality. Employers simply cannot bear this,” said employer negotiator Ron Fellon of the Federation of Employers’ Organizations for Technology at the end of last month after negotiations stalled.

But employers should not complain, says Bas van Weegberg, member of the executive board of FNV. “On the whole, the profits that the business community makes are often twice as high as the wage increases that are requested. The metal sector is also doing very well. And if there are companies that are experiencing problems due to the requested wage increase, we can always talk to them about it.”

Begging from the government

Moreover, the sector is shooting itself in the foot by not adjusting the collective labor agreement, he says. Because companies are eager for new staff, and especially young people. But they don’t happen when wages lag behind. “They complain that too few young people choose technology, but refuse to pay decently. And then beg from the government for subsidies. Scandalous,” said Weegberg.

“People who switch to a new employer often gain two or three hundred euros. There are also employees who call it a day and immediately leave the metal industry altogether. For example, they go to a call center. You earn more there and you can sit inside all day,” Zwart says.

The collective labor agreement for the small metal sector applies to more than 330,000 employees of 27,500 companies in, for example, installation, bodywork, metalworking and insulation companies and gold and silversmiths. It is the largest collective labor agreement in the market sector. At the end of April the first strikes took place in Friesland, Brabant, Utrecht and North and South Holland.