Employers and unions in the Dutch vegetable-seed industry have reached a provisional agreement covering wages and working conditions for 2026 and 2027. The negotiating result, announced by employers’ association Plantum on 8 October, contains two proposed structural pay increases of 3.25% each, but it still requires approval by union members.
Plantum negotiated with CNV, De Unie and FNV after earlier talks failed to bridge differences between the parties. The proposed agreement would run from 1 January 2026 through 31 December 2027. The unions expect to know the outcome of their membership consultations by the end of October.
Pay rises and one-off compensation
The package proposes a 3.25% structural increase dated 1 October 2026, followed by another 3.25% increase from 1 January 2027. It also includes a one-time pensionable payment equal to 3.25% of salary paid from January through September 2026 for employees who were on the payroll on 1 October. Because the increases occur in two steps, simply adding them does not express the exact compounded effect on basic salary.
The negotiated terms also increase the proposed travel allowance from €0.23 to €0.25 per kilometre from October 2026. Companies and works councils would develop arrangements for caregiving and bereavement leave by April 2027, supported by an annual budget of up to 0.5% of company payroll from January 2027. The document also changes overtime provisions for part-time employees.
Implications for vegetable-seed businesses
For businesses that fall under the Tuinzaadbedrijven collective agreement, the proposal offers a concrete scenario for staffing budgets, wage planning and contract negotiations. Vegetable-seed breeding and propagation are important upstream activities for commercial greenhouse operators, but the package is specific to the covered seed-company workforce. It should not be described as a wage agreement for every Dutch greenhouse grower.
The figures are negotiated terms, not yet a final ratified agreement. Employers and workers will need to wait for the union-member decisions before treating the package as settled. The employer statement does not establish how many workers are covered or quantify the total cost for the industry.
Key takeaways
- Plantum and three unions have reached a provisional two-year collective-bargaining result.
- Two 3.25% structural wage rises and a separate one-time payment are proposed.
- Union-member approval remains outstanding, with an outcome expected in late October.
Featured image: greenhouse seedlings, illustrative photograph by ProFlowers.com / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 2.0. Not a photograph of the negotiations.
