Negotiating Wage (In)equality : Country Report The Netherlands

In this research report, the contributions of collective bargaining and other wage setting mechanisms to wage equality/inequality in the Netherlands are analyzed. Existing literature, relevant documents, especially those sections relevant to wage determination in collective agreements, and new, unique real wage statistics in depth are analyzed. The investigations focus on the following four sectors of industry: (i) banking, (ii) supermarkets, (iii) the metal industry and (iv) the education sector. Empirical evidences and conclusion: There is little general debate in the Netherlands about wage inequality. The debate focuses rather on the two extremes of the wage distribution: top incomes and very low youth minimum wages. On these two issues, employers and unions take more or less opposing views in the public debate. High cross-sector differences are found in real wage inequality and in the extent to which unions and employers agree or disagree on the way wages are determined and regulated and how they address these issues in collective bargaining. It can be suggested that there is a relationship between trade union memberships and wage equality, although causal relationships need further research.