Martin Pikaart is a PhD mathematician at Utrecht University, co-founder of the Alternatief voor Vakbond and author of Het Polderkartel. He wrote this book to make clear what is wrong with the current situation.

Why this is a problem

The core of the problem is clear according to Martin: "these are agreements in which not everyone is represented, the members of the trade unions are mainly older men with a permanent contract", the effect of which is that young flex workers do not feel represented. However, the CBA is still very useful: "it protects the position of the employee who is in a weaker position than the employer", however, it is about the balance, explains Martin; "you have to close the gap between groups like flex and permanent, or young and old".

That is how it should be

If you don't manage to close the gap, the collective agreement is socially and economically harmful, that becomes clear in the podcast. Martin sees an opportunity in the existence of the Internet: "Thanks to the Internet, you can reach the younger and more flexible employees, without them being members of a trade union". Through the Internet, we can therefore allow people to participate in the discussion who would normally not be at the table, resulting in a much more widely supported and effective collective agreement thanks to the disconnection between control and trade union membership. Listen to the whole podcast with Martin Pikaart for all solutions or read his book for the whole story.

Links
Information on the Alternative Trade Union (AVV)

The book by Martin Pikaart: Polder cartel 

The Harvard negotiation method, which is discussed in the podcast  

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