Lloyd's Register has agreed to pay discussions with Nautilus International's branch in the Netherlands, after the Union informed management at the company that it would take legal action unless they entered negotiations.
Nautilus could potentially take Lloyd's Register to court on the basis of established case law – in which the travel company TUI attempted to avoid negotiating with unions in the Netherlands. The FNV successfully brought a lawsuit against TUI, resulting in a ruling that the company must negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with trade unions because they are legitimate representatives of employees' interests. This ruling was upheld by the Dutch Supreme Court in April 2023.
Workers at Lloyd's Register have been pushing for the company to negotiate with Nautilus for some time. They initially organised under the banner of Nautilus International due to the failure of the company to offer a decent wage increase to compensate for the high inflation of recent years – which has significantly eroded their purchasing power – while upper management received significant pay increases and bonuses.
'The first conversation with Lloyd's Register has now been scheduled,' said Nautilus industrial organiser Jos Hilberding. 'There is no guarantee of a positive outcome but, together with our members, we have won the first battle and Nautilus is recognised as advocate for employees at Lloyd's Register. We will continue until we get a decent pay increase for our members.'
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