NETHERLANDS – Dutch mail and logistics firm TPG has reached a deal on pensions and salaries with union negotiators, under which pensions would remain non-contributory for employees.

TPG, which is the largest private sector employer in the Netherlands, said in a statement that it has reached agreement on a new collective labour agreement with its four unions following “intensive negotiations”.

The company has a pension liability of 692 million euros and the TPG pension fund is worth around three billion euros.

TPG said that under the agreement – which still has to go to union members – it will make additional payments to the pension fund in the coming years. “Both parties agree
that both the employer and employees should contribute to this,” the company said.

Employees’ contribution would be in the form of a deferred pay rise.

TPG said that it would pay its share of the extra payments out of cash it saved following the end of the premium savings scheme, which was discontinued by the government earlier this year.

“The contribution that the employer would otherwise have made under the discontinued premium savings scheme will now be used for the employees' contribution to the pension scheme.”

Current TPG employees “for the sake of solidarity” would contribute around 1.5% towards existing pensioners’ pensions. “This money will be contributed by the employees by having their structural salary increase start at a later date (2% in June 2003 and 0.5% in February 2004)”.

The one-year deal covers around 68,000 employees in the Netherlands.