ABN Amro staff prepare to strike after pay and office attendance talks collapse
Staff at ABN Amor are likely to stage protests or strikes soon following a breakdown in negotiations over a new collective labor agreement, according to FNV representative Bob Bolte. The union's ultimatum to the bank expired on Tuesday morning. FNV is unhappy with the proposed pay increase and objects to plans requiring employees to spend an average of 50 percent of their working time in the office.
“They have refused to meet our demands, so we are moving ahead with industrial action,” Bolte said. He expects employees to begin staging work stoppages and strikes soon, although he could not yet say what form the action would take. “We will now urge our members to take action in the coming days.”
ABN Amro is offering two salary increases of 1.5 percent over two years, according to the FNV. The union considers this insufficient to compensate for inflation.
They are demanding a 3 percent salary increase every year, an additional €250 per month for every employee, and a maximum of one mandatory office day per week.
ABN Amro's plans to limit working from home have sparked debate, similar to discussions at other companies. The disagreement over working from home centres on whether office attendance should become a formal requirement in the collective labor agreement.
ABN Amro wants employees to spend an average of half their working hours at one of its offices, equivalent to 2.5 days per week for full-time staff. FNV argues that existing arrangements between employees and their teams should remain in place and wants to limit any mandatory attendance to one day per week.
The union says the bank's proposal would leave employees losing purchasing power, despite the bank's strong financial results. FNV has cited a profit of €2.3 billion in its campaign against the offer.
The dispute is not new. The sixth round of negotiations took place on September 16, but the parties failed to make significant progress. FNV said the bank continued to insist on its salary offer and office attendance requirement. The union subsequently announced that it saw no basis for further negotiations.
The union held meetings with its members on October 27, 28 and 29 to discuss possible action. FNV said a large number of employees had indicated they were prepared to stop working. However, at least 75 percent of the members attending the relevant meeting had to vote in favour before the union could proceed with work stoppages.
On September 8, ABN Amro employees took part in a demonstration and strike in The Hague over the Dutch government's proposed cuts to employment conditions and social security. FNV described it as the first time this century that ABN Amro employees had gone on strike.