Making firm agreements for more permanent contracts for lecturers and researchers is one of the spearheads of these collective labor agreement negotiations. You can help by wearing a red wristband. This way you show that you are in solidarity with your colleagues.

To spread the wristbands within our University, we are also asking for your help. Speaking to your immediate colleagues and making them enthusiastic about this action can ensure that the wristbands spread quickly within our University and that the action becomes a success. So help us all, many hands make light work!

How do you obtain wristbands?

You can pick them up or request them from your union official by emailing fnv@rug.nl. If pickup is inconvenient, you can also arrange with the union official to have the wristbands sent to your work location or home address.

It would also be great if you post a photo of your wristband on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram using the hashtag #MeerVasteContractenNU.

As this year draws to a close, we at the FNV are already busy preparing for the new collective labour agreement that will apply from April 2023. Once again, we want to gather information from as many colleagues as possible about what you consider really important to be reflected in our cla. To this end, we are organizing a freely accessible digital meeting for both members and non-members of the RUG on Tuesday, December the 6th, from 12:00 to 13:00.

Some examples of topics we want to discuss are:

• the wage demand
• more permanent contracts
• workload / real workload
• diversity & inclusion
• union facilities

But we would also like to discuss any other topics you think should be included. After all, this session is intended precisely to collect your input. During the meeting, our negotiators on behalf of the FNV, Jan Boersma and Sander Wesdorp, will be present to provide general information about the collective labouw process and they will also be able to answer questions raised during the session. Presentations will be given in Dutch and questions can be asked in Dutch or English.

If you would like to attend the session, please register via the e-mail address fnv@rug.nl (*). We will send you a link to the session by then. If you cannot join the session we invite you to send your ideas or suggestions to the same e-mail address. We also urge you to distribute this invitation to as many of our colleagues as possible within the organization.

(*) Your participation will not be recorded; the meetings will not be recorded.

Recently we received signals from several quarters that things are not going the way they should at the Language Center of the RUG. As a union we would like to help our colleagues find a solution. Therefore we would like to talk with as many colleagues of the Language Center as possible.

We have planned a meeting on Wednesday, November 9 from 17.30 (walk-in from 17.00) to 19.00 in the FNV Trade Union House at Hereweg 120 in Groningen. We would like to invite all employees at the Language Center. You can register via fnv@rug.nl.

The FNV launched a petition on stage in The Hague to end the proliferation of temporary contracts. We call on you and your colleagues, members or not, to express your support and spread the petition within your university. Even if you belong to the group that did manage to secure a position of greater security.

In the coming months the FNV will offer this petition to local and national university boards, perhaps also at your university. Therefore: participate, sign the petition, share it with your colleagues and keep an eye on our posts!

Our fellow union, the AOB, is organizing a number of Webinars in October that may also be of interest to us as FNV members. The Webinars are also open to non-members of the AOB and we wholeheartedly support this initiative. Below an overview with references to more information about the Webinars.

1. Topic: how does your collective labour agreement (Dutch universities) work? For example, when are you entitled to an extension of your contract and when should it become a permanent contract?
Webinar on Wednesday evening October 5, 2022, Language: English
You can register via this link.

2. Topic: social safety and transgressive behavior in higher education
Science lecture on Wednesday evening October 12, 2022, Language: Dutch. It?s possible to ask questions in English.
You can register via this link.

In the first part of the meeting, Marijke Naezer will give a lecture, based on her own research into social safety and transgressive behavior in higher education. Marijke discusses various forms of transgressive behaviour, the factors that promote this behaviour, the consequences and possible solutions. In the second part of the meeting is interactive. We will discuss social (in)security in higher education: how is social safety guaranteed, do the systems work, what is going well and what could be improved, which inspiring examples deserve to be followed?

3. Topic: This is what you need to know when you become an employee
Webinar on Wednesday evening October 19, 2022, Language: English
What are the minimum requirements in your contract? Is your position correct and what should you earn? Who can you turn to if you run into problems?
You can register via this link

4. Topic: how to improve your teaching?
Webinar on Wednesday evening October 26, 2022, Language: Dutch
Learn to present interactively with the help of theater techniques. Grab and hold students’ attention effortlessly.
You can register via this link.

The full formal elaboration of the CLA Dutch Universities is now available (valid from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023). You can retrieve the CLA by clicking on this link.

At the moment it is only available in Dutch, but as soon as the English version is available, it will be posted on our website as well.