“We’re pleased there’s room for solid CLA agreements, despite government budget cuts,” says Donald Pechler, board member of the General Education Union (AOb). The average wage increase amounts to 4.2 percent.

Cents or percentages?

Some union members preferred “cents” over “percentages.” In other words: a fixed raise for everyone instead of a percentage-based increase, so lower-paid staff would see a proportionally larger benefit.

“You always have to look at what’s feasible during negotiations, but we were able to accommodate this request,” says Pechler, referring to the €100 monthly raise and the €350 one-time payment.

Employability

The outgoing Dutch cabinet is cutting around €400 million in university funding—casting a shadow over the negotiations. Some universities have already announced layoffs.

As a result, negotiators had to address how to manage these reorganizations. A new “employability fund” will support staff who need to switch jobs, offering career coaching or funding for retraining. The fund will run through 2028 and is expected to provide €45 million in total.

Other agreements include extended notice periods for layoffs in some cases, allowing more time for affected employees to find a new job. This is especially important for international staff, who may face visa issues if dismissed too quickly.

Margot van der Starre, Vice President of Utrecht University and negotiator on behalf of the university employers’ association UNL, stated: “The current government’s drastic cuts are hitting universities hard. With this agreement, we’re providing a responsible salary increase and ensuring that we can properly support staff during these challenging times.”

Workload

Workload and social safety were also described as “sensitive issues” by Pechler. Concrete steps are still to follow: the parties will jointly analyze the current situation. They also plan to apply for grants to develop leadership training and other improvement programs.

Unions are also calling for greater transparency around “hour allocation”—that is, how many tasks are expected to be completed within an hour. While this is normally addressed through employee representation bodies, there is now an agreement to improve information-sharing.

Another new measure concerns PhD candidates: they will be required to spend no more than 20 percent of their time on teaching. “We often hear complaints that PhD students are overburdened with teaching,” Pechler says. “This is something we’re actively working to change.”

Wage margin

Separately, unions are engaged in a lawsuit against the government. Each year, the government sends employers a letter outlining the available “wage margin”—the amount of money that can be used for salary increases. Unions are not granted access to these letters.

While the court has ordered the release of past letters, current ones remain confidential. The unions argue that this information should be public, since it involves public funding, and have filed an appeal.

Voting

Union members have two weeks to vote on the agreement, as do the university boards.