In a time of budget cuts, salary increases for professors shouldn’t be the top priority. That’s the message from hundreds of professors who say that pay raises should instead go to those in lower salary brackets - among them, Anna Bosman from Radboud University.

For Laura Batstra, even as an associate professor earning over 8,000 euros gross per month, it feels excessive. Most full professors make even more, sometimes exceeding 12,000 euros gross.

Now, with unions pushing for a 7% pay raise across the board, Batstra supports the idea—just not for the highest earners. ‘Why should those who already earn the most receive the biggest raise?’

Cents instead of percentages

Negotiations between unions and employers over a new collective labor agreement are currently underway, with a deadline in June. Batstra hopes raises won’t be calculated as percentages but as fixed amounts. If everyone receives the same amount on top of their current salary, lower earners will enjoy a greater relative increase than those in the top pay scales. Together with two colleagues from the University of Groningen, Laurent Krook and professor Dirk-Jan Scheffers, Batstra dusted off a slogan from the 1970s: ‘Cents instead of percentages’.

‘People with less money have a harder time protecting themselves from inflation’

Based on current union proposals, the average professor would see a 650 euros monthly boost, while associate professors would receive about 400 euros extra. For support staff, the figures are even lower. The Groningen group proposes a fixed amount starting from salary grade 12 onward.

Batstra points out: ‘Life is getting more expensive for everyone. But it’s the people with fewer resources who suffer most. They can’t afford solar panels or triple-pane windows to cut their energy bills.’

Petition

Batstra and her colleagues have launched a petition, which as of Tuesday morning has 437 signatures. Their message is aimed at Universities of the Netherlands (UNL), the organization representing employers in the negotiations. ‘UNL didn’t want to go there before’, Batstra says.

Support is also coming from Nijmegen, including from professor Anna Bosman. She signed the petition and works in the educational sciences department, which is facing deep cuts. Bosman helped launch the PWPO program, where all staff on temporary contracts are now at risk of losing their jobs.

Bosman believes the petition doesn’t go far enough. She argues that everyone in salary scale 13 or above should return their 2023 pay raise. ‘Just doing that in our faculty would save over 1.5 million euros a year’, she estimates.

‘Of all the cost-cutting measures being considered, this is the only one that causes no harm’

Bosman says, ‘It’s a win-win situation. A large portion of the temporary staff wouldn’t have to be laid off, and the remaining lecturers—who are already working extremely hard—wouldn’t be burdened with even more responsibilities because of mass layoffs.’

UNL counters by saying that previous collective labor agreements have already included measures to reduce inequality. They point to relatively large salary increases for the lower pay scales in recent agreements. There have also been one-time bonuses that were the same for everyone—making them relatively more beneficial for lower-income employees. Still, UNL cautions: ‘Universities also need to remain attractive employers for those in the higher salary brackets.

Budget cuts

‘Well… they always say that don’t they? That you won’t attract good people if you don’t pay enough’, Batstra responds to UNL’s argument. ‘I’ve always found that a bit insulting. As if people can only be good at what they do if they demand a high salary.’

Batstra has long believed that top academic salaries are too high, but it’s the recent government cutbacks that finally pushed her to act. ‘Of course, we’re all outraged about the layoffs—I think they’re terrible too. But we could save millions if the highest earners at the university were simply willing to accept the same increase as everyone else, rather than more. Of all the cost-cutting measures, this is the only one that doesn’t actually hurt anyone.’

FNV union leader Sam Verduijn remains cautious during the ongoing negotiations but says: ‘We’ve always supported efforts to reduce income disparities and are open to any ideas that help move in that direction.’