Aios will in many cases be 12 percent better off. The VSNU has agreed on placing them in scale 10 with a starting salary of 1831 euros gross per month. According to earlier plans that was going to be 2136 euros, but scale ten now starts a step lower. At this moment a starting aio earns approximately 1500 euros. Spokesperson for the VSNU Boukje Keijzer also points to the fact that aioÆs already received substantial salary increases since 1999: the lowest step by 84 percent and the highest by 32 percent.
The increase for current PhD-students will be introduced in three stages. By September 2005 all young researchers should be in the right salary scale. 'In this way we can finally keep Dutch scientific talent at the universities', according to negotiator and national board member Arno Lammeretz (for the union Abva-Kabo).
Keijzer gives the assurance that the salary increase for aios does not mean that less PhD-students will be appointed. 'The agreements fit within the salary maximum determined by the government.'
Other university personnel will have to make do with an increase of two percent in two stages: 0.9 percent more salary on 1 September of this year and 1.1 percent in March 2004. All employees will receive a single extra payment of 0.55 percent at the end of this year.
Arno Lammeretz is ecstatic about the new CAO, in force until September next year. 'Considerable breakthroughs have been achieved. In this way we will invest in the knowledge economy on all fronts.'
The accord also offers a measure to combat ageing of the university staff-population. In the coming years a great deal of knowledge threatens to disappear rapidly through early retirement. That is why employees aged 59 years and over will get, amongst others, the opportunity to work one day less on full pay. In addition, employees aged 55 years and over can transfer to lower-paid jobs without consequences to how their pensions are built up.
In addition, agreements are included in the CAO on giving support personnel more work-time flexibility. The negotiating partners in this way hope to achieve 'a further improvement in the relationship between work and private life'. The flexible working week will be introduced on 1 January and will get a bandwidth of two hours with regard to the average number of working hours. At the same time the existing complicated arrangements concerning working time reduction (ADV) and leave will be made simpler and more transparent.
