Executives are not happy about unpaid merit

A few months ago, the executives at Pfizer were not happy about the fact that a merit would not be paid. And the company has quite a lot of executives. “A group of 1,500 executives cannot be ignored by our employer”, says Jo Vergult, who was the first of the group to address this issue.

What exactly was the problem?

Jo: “Part of the Pfizer executives’ wages consists of a merit. This merit wasn’t paid before 2023, despite good results. The staff was very dissatisfied with this decision. We noticed it in the conversations we had with our colleagues to bridge the gap between them and the management.”

How did you address the problem?

Jo: “We started with a petition, which was signed en masse. Moreover, the reactions of the executives showed that they had other complaints. These remained a bit under the radar, because Pfizer executives cannot currently negotiate collectively with their employer. We also organised webinars to inform our colleagues not only about the merit issue, but also about other topics. This issue was key to starting a discussion about effective collective negotiations about and with executives. The group of 1,500 executives needs to be represented during the social dialogue.”

How did the executives react?

Jo: “Very positively. We received many responses to both the petitions and the webinars and the accompanying questionnaires. Executives clearly also believe it is important to be informed and involved as a group. This issue has resulted in us receiving more individual questions. But also in more executives putting themselves forward as a candidate for the social elections. I am glad to see that our colleagues clearly consider us a reliable partner.”

“We have been guaranteed that next year’s merit will be paid”

How did your employer react?

Jo: “We are taking small steps forward in constructive consultations. For instance, during the recent collective negotiations, we were able to include a number of agreements for executives in CLAs, such as the granting of a € 750 purchasing power bonus. We have also been guaranteed that this year’s merit will be paid to executives.”

What else is in the pipeline?

Jo: “Negotiations on a cafeteria plan will start soon. We want to keep our colleagues well informed about this topic as well. This way, we can continue being a reliable partner to the executives. And of course we want to achieve a strong result in the social elections. This will strengthen our position in all future negotiations.”