Mental health care unions start pay action after ultimatum expires
Unions FNV and CNV say employees in mental health care (GGZ) will start collective action for a better pay deal after their ultimatum to employers expired without result.
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Illustrative photo: lettinck / Pixabay Content LicenseEmployees in mental health care (GGZ) will take action from December to press for a better collective labour agreement (cao), after an ultimatum from unions FNV and CNV expired at 12:00 today and employers did not meet their demands. FNV says it will be the first collective action by GGZ employees this century.
The unions gave employers' organisation de Nederlandse ggz the ultimatum last week. It expired at 12:00 today. According to FNV, employers did not meet the unions' demands on substance.
Eight rounds of negotiations have produced no agreement. The unions demand a 6% pay rise on a cao term of at most twelve months. The parties also failed to agree on travel costs, workload, night and weekend shifts and support for PTSD.
Elise Merlijn of FNV Zorg & Welzijn (care and welfare) said she is "extremely disappointed" after so many rounds. "Employers apparently are letting unrest in the sector grow," she said. "They did not even bother to engage with our demands. Staff feel unheard and unseen."
Jeroen Degenkamp, a psychiatric nurse and action leader who handed the ultimatum to employers for the unions, said he sees more and more angry colleagues. "For people to keep doing this work well and enjoying it, employers must invest in their staff too," he said.
Chantal van Dijk of CNV said the unions would rather have settled the dispute at the cao negotiating table and gave employers a last chance to prevent action. "Nobody in the GGZ likes taking action, but we have no choice," she said. The unions will say later what form the action will take.
Statistics Netherlands (CBS) figures show that wages and salaries paid by mental health hospitals (GGZ with overnight stay) rose every year from 2016 to 2025. They went from €2,985m in 2016 to €4,827m in 2025, the latest year on record.
Wage bill in residential mental health care rose every year since 2016
€m · 2016–2025
Wage bill in residential mental health care rose every year since 2016 (€m). From 2,985 in 2016 to 4,827 in 2025; highest 4,827 in 2025, lowest 2,985 in 2016. Source: CBS.
View data
| Period | €m |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 2,985 |
| 2017 | 3,005 |
| 2018 | 3,154 |
| 2019 | 3,315 |
| 2020 | 3,601 |
| 2021 | 3,725 |
| 2022 | 3,870 |
| 2023 | 4,069 |
| 2024 | 4,497 |
| 2025 | 4,827 |
Source: FNV
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