Vandemoortele executives are working on visibility

Although about 60% of the staff of Vandemoortele Gent and R&D Izegem have an executive status, until recently they were treated in a rather patronising way in the social dialogue. Executive representative Thirza Berg wants to change this. “There are more executives than white-collar workers. And we really do have an opinion on how work could be improved for us.”

Can you give an example?

Thirza: “Many colleagues are questioning their wage and employment conditions. The sectoral agreement of the food industry outlines the general principles. But these need to be further elaborated in the company. For this reason, we organised a webinar for the executives. During this webinar, we informed them about the sectoral agreement and, at the same time, asked them what they thought was important to further discuss with our employer. Although we consider white-collar workers and executives as one group, the employer has a different approach during social consultations.”

What did your colleagues think of this?

Thirza: “Our initiative was positively received. Many colleagues participated in the webinar. And we also heard a lot of positive feedback on the shop floor. As many employees at Vandemoortele speak another language, we were asked if we could do a repeat webinar in English. So, of course, we did. We believe it’s important everyone is involved. We want to listen to everyone’s opinion.”

“Executives also have an opinion on how to do things better!”

How did your employer react?

Thirza: “Unfortunately, we were unable to negotiate anything for executives during the negotiations, but the employer granted the same purchasing power bonus to both executives and white-collar workers. The employer maintains that this can’t be included in a collective labour agreement. This means that every executive has to sign the purchasing power bonus themself. This obviously creates unnecessary administrative issues, which we would like to get rid of. This is why we remain committed to representing the voice of executives in the social consultations.”

What now?

Thirza: “We would like to put ourselves further on the map. Because too many colleagues still don’t know that trade union support for executives is also available. The webinar was a successful first step to increase our visibility. We want to provide our employees with tailored information about the topics that are important to them. We want to keep the finger on the pulse of their concerns related to wages and labour. Another webinar will be organised on the social elections. And this month, we will offer all members a trial subscription to Never Work Alone, the ACV Kader magazine for executives and managers. This will give them a taste of the added value which trade union work can offer to executives. And we have also invited all executives to join us as executive representatives. Because we want to involve as many people as possible.”