The Netherlands’ GroenLinks-PvdA claimed that the lowest paid workers in healthcare should earn at least 16 euros an hour, NOS.nl reported.
GroenLinks-PvdA estimates there are currently around 60,000 people working in healthcare for less than €16 an hour. According to the group, these are people who do irreplaceable work every day in hospitals, nursing homes and care homes and are not paid accordingly.
Party leader Frans Timmermans said such low wages are not enough for the important work they do, and emphasised that these people kept “our country afloat” during the Coronacrisis and continue to do so every day. However, since recent price increases, they often find it difficult to make ends meet and have no pocket money left.
GroenLinks-PvdA intends to increase the contributions that health care employers receive from the government for negotiating a collective labour agreement. They get this money on the condition that it is only used for wage increases on the lowest wage scale.
According to Timmermans, such changes will also make working in healthcare more attractive, as the industry is experiencing serious staff shortages due to the current statutory minimum hourly wage of €13.27. If everyone in healthcare earned at least €16, it would be worth about €525 a year, GroenLinks-PvdA calculated.
Therefore, in order for this to come into effect, the party means to increase the maximum contribution that all employers in the Netherlands pay for an employee’s health insurance. This means that employers will have to pay more health insurance contributions for employees with high salaries.
