{"id":180379,"date":"2025-07-03T16:11:50","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T14:11:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=180379"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:52","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:52","slug":"new-collective-labour-agreement-for-universities-a-story-of-cents-and-percents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2025\/07\/03\/new-collective-labour-agreement-for-universities-a-story-of-cents-and-percents\/","title":{"rendered":"New Collective Labour Agreement for universities: a story of cents and percents"},"content":{"rendered":"

Under the new Collective Labour Agreement, university staff will be offered a 2-percent pay rise and 100-euro bonus from 1 July. Staff will also receive a one-off payment of 350 euros in October.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEva Gomb\u00e1r-Krishnan<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

\u201cWe\u2019re pleased to have reached good collective labour agreements despite pressures of government cuts\u201d, says Donald Pechler, director of the General Union of Education (AOb). Under the new agreement, pay will go up by 4.2 percent on average.<\/p>\n

Cent or percent?<\/h2>

Some union members would prefer pay rises to be in \u2018cents\u2019 rather than \u2018percent\u2019. Giving everyone a monetary pay rise rather than a percentage pay rise would leave employees on a lower salary better off in relative terms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will always be red lines in negotiations, but we\u2019ve been able to satisfy the demands of those members\u201d, says Pechler, alluding to the 100-euro uplift on monthly salaries and the one-off payment of 350 euro.<\/p>\n

\u2018Employability fund\u2019<\/h2>

The negotiations were overshadowed by the caretaker government\u2019s cuts to university funding, amounting to around 400 million euros. With various universities having announced layoffs,the negotiators needed to discuss how reorganisations would be handled. An \u2018employability fund\u2019 will be created for people being transferred to new roles. They will be supported in finding new work or funding for retraining. The fund, for which 45 million euros is reported to have been earmarked, will be in place until 2028 inclusive.<\/p>\n\n\t

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