First joint CLA for healthcare and social care in the Caribbean Netherlands concluded

On September 27, five healthcare employers, together with the unions AFBW, ALL for 1 and SUPLUA, concluded an agreement in principle for the first joint CLA for the healthcare organizations on the BES: the BES Healthcare CLA. The CLA has a term of three years and takes effect on January 1, 2024. This CLA contains agreements that improve employees' employment conditions and strengthen their vitality. In addition, the parties have agreed to work together in a structured and intensive way on employment conditions and labor market policy on the BES. The CLA will apply to more than 900 employees.

Salary increase

The new CLA includes a salary increase of 9 percent in total. Every employee, regardless of age, receives 25 vacation days per year and an annual Vitality Budget of USD 850. Employees can use this budget to support their own vitality in a way that suits them. In addition, the arrangements of the five organizations, which differed considerably, have been aligned as much as possible. This means that employees in the same position are paid the same. It also means that employment conditions are no longer an obstacle to working for another healthcare organization on the BES. In this way, the new CLA contributes to labor mobility and limits competition on employment conditions.

Together we are stronger

During the conference Together we are stronger, held by the parties on Sint Maarten in July 2022, it was stated that the staffing and labor market issues each island faces can only be tackled effectively together. With the agreements now made, which will lead to the introduction of the BES Healthcare CLA, a wish of the CLA Parties that was first expressed in 2010 and has been worked on ever since has been realized.

Ambition

The new joint CLA does not mark an end point, but a start. In the BES Healthcare CLA, the parties have laid down their shared ambition. Equivalence and appropriateness are at its core, including the aim of making Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius an equal part of the Netherlands. The BES Healthcare CLA must contribute to good care for the residents of the BES, now and in the coming years. This requires staff who are well trained and continue to develop, with employment conditions that are competitive and contribute to sustainable employability.