After months of strike action in the Netherlands for an extension of the early retirement scheme, an agreement has finally been reached between the Dutch government, employers and trade unions.

New agreement for Dutch early retirement scheme 

In a letter to parliament, the Dutch Minister of Social Affairs and Employment Eddy van Hijum announced that the new scheme would allow employees who perform heavy work to retire three years before the official retirement age of 67. 

Despite the government’s earlier proposal to limit the number of people who can qualify for the scheme not going down well, unions and employees have agreed to try to limit the number of people retiring to 15.000 per year to prevent a “culture of early retirement”. However, this is not a hard limit and can be customised.

The early retirement scheme will also see retirees who had physically taxing jobs receive a standard benefit in line with the state pension of around 1.500 euros, with an additional 300 euros per month until they reach the age of 67. Determining what counts as heavy work and which workers qualify for the scheme will be done by the trade unions together with the employers for each sector. The scheme will also be re-evaluated every three years.

FNV and CNV satisfied with new early retirement agreement

Dutch trade unions, the Netherlands Trade Union Confederation (FNV) and Christian National Trade Union (CNV), still need to present the agreement to its members for approval. “The most important thing we have achieved is that there is now finally certainty for people with heavy work who want to stop working earlier,” said FNV negotiator Piet Rietman.

According to Rietman, the success is “entirely due to the willingness of FNV members with heavy work to strike”. There was industrial action in various sectors, with police on strike during football matches and workers in public transport participating in work stoppages to name a few. 

“A nice champagne moment,” said CNV chairman Piet Fortuin. “Finally, there is perspective for our members in a tough profession. The Netherlands has been spared from long-term strikes thanks to this agreement.” More strike action was on the table for this year, however, the trade unions suspended them until December so that they could negotiate a deal.

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