No agreement yet on better remuneration for cleaning assistants after an increase in the price of service vouchers

The Flemish government announced in November of last year that the price of service vouchers would increase. From January 1 of this year, they will cost 10 instead of 9 euros, i.e. 1 euro more. According to the minister, these extra euros should flow directly to the 127,000 Flemish cleaning assistants.

But according to the unions, this is not the case yet. According to them, Federgon came up with proposals on Tuesday “that have little to do with an increase in purchasing power”. “Proposals to increase the clothing allowance or to introduce a first step towards a second pension pillar do not meet the urgent need for more purchasing power for domestic helpers.”

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For ABVV, ACLVB and ACV “the conversion is simple: convert the higher price into a gross wage increase of 1 euro per hour. A collective labor agreement for this has been ready since December, it only requires the signature of the employers.”

“This job is one of the top three lowest-paid professions. The hardworking employees deserve this more than anything! Customers are not prepared to pay 1 euro extra if that money ends up in the pockets of the companies. They want to be sure that the extra euro goes directly to their household help. The unions therefore demand that governments take their responsibility and increase pressure on employer organizations,” the unions said.

Integrated deployment

Employers’ federation Federgon states in a response that it wants to use the available budget in full, “according to the request of the Flemish government”. “The euro that people pay more by check since January will fully benefit domestic workers,” says Dennis Rombauts, spokesperson at Federgon.

“An increase in the expense allowance and the start-up of a second pension pillar are two measures that enable us to get the maximum net amount of that budget to the Flemish household helper. A federal wage increase of 1 euro gross — which would mean a cost of approximately 1.70 euros for employers — far exceeds the budget of one euro per service voucher that Flanders provides in its budget,” said Rombauts.