The Netherlands: The representativeness of trade unions and employer associations in the textile and clothing sector

The Dutch textile and clothing sector is a small economic sector, in which companies are rationalising production and moving it abroad. New production processes have also been introduced. The sector is densely organised with regard to consultation and collective bargaining. The employer organisation Modint and the three unions FNV, CNV and MHP/De Unie conclude one single collective labour agreement, which is then extended to the whole sector. The social partners in the sector are affiliated to the three national union federations. The social partners at national, and at sectoral, level and the government cooperate to fight illegal work in illegal plants. The social partner organisations are selected here given their membership of the European social partner organisations and, in the case of MHP/De Unie, given their role in national collective bargaining.