The Netherlands: Industrial relations in the health care sector

The most important development in the health care sector in the Netherlands over the past five years had been the introduction and development of market regulation. Unions are critical of this development and point at contraproductive effects of specialisation and large scale companies. Employers favour entrepeneurship and competition.They point at the advantages of clustering of expertise that would lead to higher revenues. However, also employers see labour market shortages threatening the sector in the near future as a result of a growing demand for care and a shrinking labour population. Therefore they strive at labour conditions that are in conformity with the market. They also emphasize that a market conform salary will not be enough to deal with the labour shortages to come. Technical and social innovation will be necessary too. Continuous vocational training is seen as a key component in these policies. However, competition at local level empedes solid education policies, for no company wants to educate its personnel for their neighbours. In collective agreements, there are also measures taken directed at a better work-life balance, such as flexible working times and possibilities to save time for periods of leave