The Netherlands: Representativeness of the European social partner organisations in the electricity sector

The electricity sector is of great importance to Dutch society and its economy. After the liberalisation of the market in 2006, the production and distribution of electricity have been privatised, although the network’s infrastructure has remained under state control. So far, the decrease in the number of employees has turned out to be lower than anticipated. Additionally, the organisation of the social partners has remained unchanged and the density is relatively high. Two sectoral collective agreements - one for the network infrastructure, the other for production and distribution - cover the two segments of the sector. The three unions involved - FNV Abvakabo, CNV Publieke Zaak and VMHP-N of the CMHP are the accepted parties in collective bargaining, as is the employer organisation WENb.