Dutch hospitality trade union FNV Horeca announced that it plans to work together with freelance platform Temper, however FNV Flex, the temporary employment union, and Dutch Federation of Private Employment Agencies have voiced their opposition.

FNV Horeca stated that “FNV Horeca and Temper will work together to protect the catering professional. Together they strive for a healthy catering sector that consists of a permanent core of employees, with a flexible layer of freelancers, where expertise is paramount.”

The agreement is set to be for one year.

Dick Koerselman, chairman FNV Horeca, commented on the collaboration, “The hospitality industry has many freelancers. This group is also entitled to good working conditions and a good pension. FNV Horeca is committed to this and is researching the possibilities of which services can be developed to support them. Education and training are at the forefront, so that freelancers who are enthusiastic about the catering business can ultimately move on to the permanent core employees.”

FNV Horeca said, “both parties have one common goal: to make the catering industry attractive and to keep all employees working by emphasising a good working atmosphere and working conditions, such as better pay, pension and working hours.”

The hospitality trade union added that “Employers will also have to think about the pay gap between a permanent employee and a freelancer. This gap must be smaller, so that the catering industry will also become attractive for fixed skilled workers.”

Meanwhile, FNV Flex said it believes that Temper is a temporary employment agency, and has asked the FNV top to ban cooperation. The union said companies like Temper are operating in pretense constructions, whereby self-employed people actually work in permanent employment. FNV Flex has threatened a lawsuit.

Flexnieuws reported that Zakaria Boufangacha, member of the Executive Board of FNV, said “Temper is operating from wrong constructions. Its freelancers are actually temporary workers for whom social insurance contributions have to be paid. It is difficult to maintain that Temper has no employer role. They negotiate, perform administrative tasks and the money flows also run through them.”

The ABU is also against the partnership, with ABU Director Jurriën Koops commenting, “Together with the FNV I work on a level playing field and a good collective labour agreement. And the same FNV now undermines it through a back door, by closing a partnership with Temper. That company calls itself a bulletin board, but everything indicates that they are just a temporary employment agency.”

Temper has said that it is a freelance platform and not a temporary employment agency.  The company describes itself as a digital bulletin board where clients place jobs and freelancers build a profile to sell their services. It focusses on the hospitality industry.

FNV Horeca is part of FNV Horecabond, one of the 18 trade unions of FNV. The FNV is an association of all trade unions in the Netherlands for almost all sectors. 

According to FNV Horecabond, its mission is to represent the interests of employees, benefit recipients and pensioners in the catering industry, catering and recreation in the field of labour and income.