- Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging
Infobox Union
name= FNV
country=Netherlands
affiliation= ITUC,ETUC
members= 1.2 million
full_name= Federation Dutch Labour Movement
native_name= Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging
founded=1976
current=
head=
dissolved_date=
dissolved_state=
merged_into=
office=
people=Wim Kok
website= [http://www.fnv.nl www.fnv.nl]
footnotes=The Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging (Dutch: Federation Dutch Labour Movement; FNV) is a federation of
trade union s of theNetherlands .History
The FNV was founded in 1976 as a federation of two unions, the Catholic
NKV and the social-democratic NVV. The ProtestantCNV originally also participated in the talks, but it refused to fully merge into a new union. The federation was founded because of declining membership, due to depillarization and increasing political polarization between left and right. The two fused officially in 1982.Wim Kok , who had already been chair of NVV between 1973 and 1976 became chair of the new organization, which he remained until 1986 when entered parliament for thePvdA .The FNV was crucial in the economic recovery in the Netherlands during the 1980s. It supported the so-called
Accords of Wassenaar , where employee accepted lower wages in trade for more employment. During the 1990s the FNV came into a heavy conflict over reforms the WAO, the disabled act, with the cabinet Lubbers-III, in which the party's former chair, Kok, was vice-prime minister. The proposals were consequently dropped.In the 2000s the FNV came into conflict with the
Second Balkenende cabinet over the AOW, the old aged act, and the WAO, the disabilities act. A huge protest was organized in Amsterdam in 2004. The FNV became a leading member in "Keer het Tij" (Turn the Tide) an alliance of social organizations that opposed the cabinet and became involved in organizing the Dutch Social Forum, the Dutch branch of theWorld Social Forum in 2004 and 2006.Ideology
Although the FNV started out as a neutral union, it has a strong social-democratic oriententation. It is critical of both government and employers but is also heavily encorporated in the Dutch corporatist system. Compared to the other major union, CNV, FNV is more leftwing and has more often used strikes, although use of these actions is rare in comparison to other European unions.
Activities
The most important function of FNV is the CAO-talks, over wages and secondary working conditions, it holds with the
employers' federation s. It also advises government via theSocial Economic Council in which other trade unions, employers' organizations and government appointed experts also have seats.Organization
FNV consists out of fourteen affiliate unions, with a total of 1,2 milliion members, about 60% of all organized workers in the Netherlands are member of the FNV. The highest organ of the FNV is the federation congress, which meets every four years. It consists out of members of all affiliate unions, represented proportionally. It elects a federation board with four members, a chair, a vice-chair, a secretary and a treasurer. The current chair is
Agnes Jongerius . A federation council is formed by the boardmembers, and the chairs of the fourteen affiliated unions. It takes decisions over FNV policy.Although the FNV is formally independent of other organizations there are strong ideological and personal links with the social-democratic
PvdA in what is known as thepillarization . Former FNV chairWim Kok served asprime minister of the Netherlands , between 1994 and 1998. Politicians from other Dutch parties also have their background in FNV, former leader of the DutchGreenLeft Paul Rosenmöller was one of the leaders of the FNV in the Rotterdam harbours.The FNV affiliate unions
* FNV Bondgenoten: the industrial union with about 480,000 members;
* FNV Zelfstandige Bondgenoten: which represents the interest of theself-employed . It has around 7,000 members;
* ABVAKABO FNV: thecivil servant s' union, with around 365.000 members;
* FNV Bouw: which represents the interest ofconstruction workers. It has around 155,000 members;
* Algemene Onderwijsbond: theteacher s' union, with around 72,000 members;
* FNV KIEM: which represents the interest ofartist s and those employed in the information sector. It has around 48,000 members;
* FNV Horecabond: the union for those employed byhotel s,restaurant s andpub s, with 27,000;
* Nederlandse Politiebond: which represents the interest ofpolice personnel. It has 22,000 members;
* AFMP: themilitary union with 26,000 members;
* Kappersbond FNV: representsbarber s. It has 10,000 members;
* Nederlandse Vereniging Journalisten: union ofjournalist s. Unlike other unions this one has a strict code of behaviour and it gives out apress card . It has around 7,300 members'
* FNV Vrouwenbond: which represents women, both employed and unemployed. It has around 6,100 members.
* FWZ: the seafaring union with about 6,000 members
* FNV Sport: professional athletes. It has around 1,450 members
* VVCS: professional soccer players. It has around 750 members.External links
* [http://www.fnv.nl fnv site]
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