The FNV, 1.4 million members, no longer exists. This federation, created in 1982 after the merger of two major protestant unions, is going to rise from its ashes with a new name, ‘De Nieuwe Vakbeweging’ (DNV, ‘New Federation), and a new philosophy. The point is to give more weight and rights to its members’ opinion. The new slogan is, “Building from bottom to top.” Neither of the unions’ two leaders, who fought over the pension reform, will be allowed to run the new federation. Not Agnes Jongerius, FNV general secretary, and not Henk van der Kolk, general secretary of the FNV Bondgenoten (FNV and Allies), who organized the rebellion against the former. This is an admission of failure for Agnes Jongerius, disowned in September by the FNV’s two biggest affiliated members (FNV and Allies, manufacturing, and Abvakabo, civil service). The latter, who account for 65% of the FNV’s members, rejected the fact that the union’s board, composed of 19 unions, agreed to the pension reform (see our dispatch No. 110555). Abvakabo and FNV and Allies are protesting against ‘casino pensions,’ because employees are too exposed to variations on markets, since this is where Dutch pension funds invest most the savings with which they are entrusted.
of the FNV’s members, rejected the fact that the union’s board, composed of 19 unions, agreed to the pension reform (see our dispatch No. 110555). Abvakabo and FNV and Allies are protesting against ‘casino pensions,’ because employees are too exposed to variations on markets, since this is where Dutch pension funds invest most the savings with which they are entrusted.
The new federation, claiming to be more open, is inviting, youth, pensioners and jobseekers’ organizations to join. It will
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