Today, Wednesday 4 June, some 100 workers at two kitchen worktop manufacturers in Brabant, Kemie in Helmond and Jetstone in Deurne, are laying off work. It is the fourth action in a relay series that began on 19 May in Gelderland.
Thérèse Beurskens, director FNV Meubel en Hout and national collective bargaining officer: 'For ten years, workers in this industry have shown great loyalty, but the limit has been reached. Unfortunately, actions are needed to make it clear that the workers mean business. These are also all companies that claim to want to exceed customers' wishes or make dreams come true. They do need their professionals to do that.'
Six months of pointless bargaining
The union has been negotiating a new collective labour agreement since October last year, but the Branchevereniging Koninklijke CBM is hiding behind a tight mandate from its members, according to the union. Beurskens: 'They offer a lousy wage increase and also skimp on other working conditions, such as decent overtime pay. In addition, the employers are also putting the heavy work scheme at risk.'
Trade union demands 7% for one year
The FNV is demanding a 7% pay rise and a one-year collective agreement. The gap with what the employers are offering is huge. "They have so far come up with a wage increase of 3.75% from 1 March 2025 for a collective agreement from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. That's only 3.13% over the whole of 2025. That does not come close to the inflation of recent times, workers do not accept loss of purchasing power," Beurkens said. According to the union, there is no lack of financial resources within the sector.
CBM earlier expressed its disappointment with FNV's stance, saying it had made a "competitive and constructive final offer" that it said did justice to the current economic reality in the sector. "We are very disappointed with the attitude of the unions, which are currently blocking further talks," it said. The industry association stressed that while it does value a new collective agreement, it can only come about on reasonable terms. Due to the challenging business conditions, CBM considers it necessary to operate cautiously.
Additional working conditions
The FNV also wants good agreements on working from home, birth leave (fully paid), bereavement leave (10 days) and overtime allowance (50%). Those doing heavy work should be able to stop three years before retirement. Furthermore, the FNV wants talks on a four-day working week (32 hours) to begin.
Relay
The work stoppage at the companies in Helmond and Deurne follow previous work stoppages in Winterswijk, Bergen op Zoom and Wolvega. Meanwhile, over 130 workers have already laid down work for a few hours. Beurskens: 'These are mainly members of the FNV but more and more non-member colleagues are joining the actions.'
More information:
FNV
www.fnv.nl