Dutch union approves TNT plans
Union members employed at TNT have approved the in-principle agreement on a new collective labour agreement (CLA) and a social plan. The social plan will be in effect until 31 December 2012 and the collective agreement will run from 1 April 2009 to 31 December 2011.
The agreements concern all 31,000 TNT employees in the Netherlands, with the exception of the mail deliverers and Saturday delivery staff, who are covered by separate collective agreements.
All TNT employees in the Netherlands will receive a 0.7% pay rise as of 1 January 2010. For the TNT Post entities (with the exception of TNT Post Parcel Service) a 1% rise has been agreed as of 1 January 2011 and 0.2% as of 1 October 2011.
The social plan focuses on encouraging voluntary redundancy, with an additional financial incentive for employees aged 50 years and older. Arrangements for compulsory redundancy centre on the size of the severance payout on termination of employment. This is based on the old “subdistrict court formula” with an adjustment factor of 0.8 and a mediation period of up to 12 months. As the mediation period progresses the amount of severance pay will be gradually reduced using a set formula. A special arrangement will apply to employees aged between 55 and 58 years. Those born before 1 January 1952 may be declared supernumerary but will not be dismissed. TNT and the trade unions will also set up a joint working group to explore a future-proof pension scheme for TNT in the Netherlands.
More to follow…
