University salaries to rise by 3.1 per cent under new collective agreement

Universities and trade unions have reached an agreement valid for all staff at the fourteen Dutch universities. Their salaries will rise by 3.1 per cent on a permanent basis.

In addition, they will receive 50 euros gross per month. “This will particularly benefit staff in lower pay scales, who will receive a relatively larger increase than their colleagues in higher scales,” explains Donald Pechler, Director of the General Education Union. The average pay rise is therefore 4.1 per cent. In addition, everyone will receive a one-off payment of 1,534 euros gross.

According to Hans Biemans, vice-chair of the University of Groningen and head of the delegation representing the association of Dutch universities (UNL), the austerity measures implemented by the previous cabinet “had an impact on universities”. The new agreement offers “a responsible pay rise”. 

Pregnancy
In addition, steps are being taken “on several important issues”. For instance, postdocs will now have their contracts extended during maternity and childbirth leave, as well as during parental and birth leave. “PhD students already had this, so we’ve brought the rules into line,” says Pechler.

In addition, the contracts of breastfeeding PhD students will be extended by one month to allow them time to properly complete their research. Staff who received certain allowances before their pregnancy, such as for irregular working hours, will retain these during their pregnancy.

Reducing workload
The collective agreement will also include the "right to be unreachable", so that university staff cannot simply be called up for every little thing. “We want to reduce the workload and promote a culture in which rest outside working hours is respected,” says Pechler.

Lecturers in pay scale 3 or 4 will retain their pay scale and step if they move to another university. They will therefore not have to start "at the bottom" again. The trade unions still wish to investigate how this group can be offered permanent contracts more frequently.

University administrators and trade union members are now putting the negotiated agreement before their respective members. They hope to have a new collective agreement in place by 20 July at the latest, which will then apply retroactively from 1 July.