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The chemistry umbrella organization Essenscia is not pleased with the general strike notice.
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The trade unions ACV, ABVV and ACLVB announce a strike notice for actions in all Belgian chemical companies. They said they did this because the chemical umbrella organization ‘Essenscia abruptly left the negotiations on a new sectoral agreement on Friday evening.’ The unions and Essenscia have been in talks for a new sectoral agreement since the end of September.
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It is not yet clear which actions would be organized and where. On Tuesday, however, union militants will gather at the entrance of an Essenscia event in Brussels.
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‘In itself we were negotiating constructively’, explains Koen De Kinder of ACVBIE. They had already indicated that they did not see a corona premium in 2021. In addition, they only wanted to grant wage increases from 2022. That would happen within a small margin. If Essenscia wants to renegotiate, we will suspend our actions.’
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‘Slap in the face’
In a response, Essenscia says it is not pleased with the general strike notice. According to Essenscia, an attractive package was on the table to reach a strong sectoral agreement, but the unions came up with additional requirements regarding a corona premium just before concluding an agreement. ‘A slap in the face’, is how Koen Laenens puts it of Essenscia.
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According to the sector federation, the package consisted of a maximum implementation of the wage standard, extra efforts for a substantial increase in the sectoral minimum wages, additional investments in training and education, wage increases for non-conventional companies and more attention for workable work.
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Crownpremie
Essenscia says it is not against a corona premium in itself, but wants it at company level. For example, companies that did well during the corona crisis can choose to do so themselves. Demanding a corona premium for all employees in the sector is ignoring the economic reality in which there are a lot of sector companies that have had a hard time and still have it.
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The sectoral agreement within the chemical industry is renegotiated every two years. ‘Now that no sectoral agreement has been reached, the next step is for the social partners within the companies to start talks to negotiate a collective labor agreement tailored to the company’, concludes Laenens.
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