Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

Labour Relations (Public Service) Convention, 1978 (No. 151) - Netherlands (Ratification: 1988)

The Committee takes note of the Government’s reference to the Collective Labour Agreement for Temporary Agency Workers, which grants these workers partial entitlement to the same employment terms and conditions as those directly employed by the Government. The Committee also notes the enactment of the Normalisation of the Legal Status of Civil Servants Act (Wrna), which subjects civil servants’ contract to private law and aligns them with the same collective bargaining regulations.

In this respect, the Committee notes the FNV and CNV’s observation that: (i) despite the collective agreement, disparities persist between the employment conditions and benefits of temporary workers and those of “regular” public servants; and (ii) the 2023 survey conducted upon request from the Ministry of Internal Affairs revealed that temporary workers constitute more than 30 per cent of the workforce in some public organisations. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that temporary public workers have access to the different rights recognized by the Convention.

Article 7. Negotiation of terms and conditions of employment. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to provide its comments on: (i) the impossibility, since 2010 for public employees to bargain collectively concerning wage increases due to the “no rise” Government policies; and on (ii) the lack of consultation of public sector unions before and during the law-making process of a bill concerning the legal position and protection of civil servants which was already under examination in the Upper Chamber of Parliament, and to submit these questions to consultations with the appropriate representative organizations of workers and employers.

Regarding the matter of wage negotiations, the Committee takes note of the Government’s indication that the salary freeze for civil servants, implemented in 2010 as part of the coalition agreement in response to the financial crisis and recession, remained in effect until 2015. The Government emphasizes that, despite the inability to secure wage increases through collective labour agreements during this period, collective bargaining on employment conditions remained possible. The Government also points out to data from the Dutch Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS), indicating that during the 2020–24 period, wages in collective labour agreements in the public sector increased by 18.9 per cent, surpassing the 17.3 per cent observed in the subsidized sector and 16.7 per cent in the private sector. Concerning the public workers’ organization consultation in the law-making process, the Committee notes the example of public sector trade unions inclusion during the legislative process which led to the adoption of the Wrna, as highlighted by the Government. The Committee also takes note of the information sessions on this new law organized by the Government and its indication that several collective labour agreements for civil servants have been concluded since its enactment. The Committee finally notes that the FNV and CNV express their concern about a possible reintroduction of a freeze for civil servants’ salaries that would affect their right to bargain collectively. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on collective bargaining in practice in the public sector.

Previous comment

In its previous comment, the Committee requested the Government to indicate in detail the provisions of the relevant legislation and administrative regulations giving full legal effect to each of the Articles of the Convention. The Committee notes with satisfaction the information provided by the Government according to which: (i) the Centralized Organized Dialogue on Public Official’s Affairs (CODPOA) is a fundamental platform for negotiation and dialogue on interests related to the legal status of civil servants in Curaçao); (ii) the CODPOA is composed of the Minister of Administration Planning and Service, three representatives of each of the representative unions organization (those with at least 5 per cent of the public officials as members) and is chaired by an independent president; (iii) decisions in the CODPOA are preferably made by consensus, in the absence of consensus, the Advisory an Arbitration Commission can be used to resolve disputes; and (iv) since 2008, various pacts have been negotiated and signed by the parties of the CODPOA, six of them signed between 2019 and 2023.

The Committee takes due note of this information, which underlines the existence of organisations representing public employees that are able to participate in determining the terms and conditions of employment of their members and to have recourse to mechanisms for resolving collective disputes. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the activities of the CODPOA and the agreements concluded within it. The Committee also requests the Government to provide details of the provisions of the legislation giving effect to Article 4 of the Convention concerning the protection of public employees against all acts of anti-union discrimination.