Netherlands: final hurdle cleared as vote for FNV union merger is approved

The largest private sector union FNV Bondgenoten, affiliated to the trade union confederation FNV, voted in favor (with 91% of the votes) of the planned merger into one unified trade union structure during an extraordinary congress held on 26 November 2014. In a previous congress the merger proposal had narrowly failed (c.f. article No. 8637 and article No. 8641). Following significant internal difficulties the FNV had decided to overhaul the union structure in moving from a confederation structure to a single unified union.
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After the positive outcome in the congresses of four trade unions affiliated to the FNV (the general workers union FNV Bondgenoten, the public service union Abvakabo FNV, the building and woodworkers union FNV Bouw and FNV Sport) the new structure to take effect in January 2015 is expected to resolve recent problems and bring a new dynamic.

The four trade unions and the confederation had already announced their merger in July 2014 with much press attention. The organizations have agreed to hand

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