VNO-NCW

VNO-NCW (known in English as the "Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers")^[1] is a Dutch employers' federation founded in 1996 as a merger of the Christian-democratic Nederlands Christelijk Werkgeversverbond (NCW), which was founded as fusion of the Protestant PCW and the Catholic NKW, and the liberal Verbond van Nederlandse Ondernemingen (VNO). Both organizations had strong ties with the Protestant and liberal pillar, respectively.

VNO-NCW (Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers)

Founder	Founded in 1996
Type	Employers' federation
Focus	Advocacy for employers and businesses
Location	Netherlands
Method	Policy advocacy, labor relations, education
Members	115,000 companies (160 branch organizations)
Affiliations	VNO-NCW North, VNO-NCW West, Employers' Association of Brabant and Zeeland, Employers' Association of Limburg
Website	VNO-NCW Official Website

The federation chose not to adopt a new name, but instead use the well-known acronyms of its constituent organizations.

Activities

The most important function of VNO-NCW is the CAO-talks, over wages and secondary working conditions, it holds with the trade unions. It also advises government via the Social Economic Council in which other employers' organizations, trade unions, and government-appointed experts also have seats.

List of chairmen of the Christian Employers' association

Chairman of the Christian Employers' association (NCW)			Term of office	Party
		Steef van Eijkelenburg (1922–2009)	1 January 1979 – 1 January 1988	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Dr. Koos Andriessen (1928–2019)	1 January 1988 – 7 November 1989	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Dr. Onno Ruding (born 1939)	1 January 1990 – 21 March 1992	Christian Democratic Appeal
		Hans Blankert (born 1940)	20 August 1992 – 31 December 1996	Independent

List of chairmen of the Industry and Employers' association

Chairman of the Industry and Employers' association (VNO)			Term of office	Party
		Chris van Veen (1922–2009)	1 January 1974 – 1 November 1984	Christian Historical Union
		Kees van Lede (born 1942)	1 January 1985 – 1 January 1991	Independent
		Dr. Alexander Rinnooy Kan (born 1949)	1 January 1991 – 31 December 1996	Democrats 66

List of chairmen of the Industry and Employers confederation

Chairman of the Industry and Employers confederation (VNO–NCW)			Term of office	Party
		Hans Blankert (born 1940)	1 January 1997 – 1 July 1999	Independent
		Jacques Schraven (born 1942)	1 July 1999 – 1 July 2005	Independent
		Bernard Wientjes (born 1943)	1 July 2005 – 1 July 2014	Independent
		Dr. Hans de Boer (1955-2021)	1 July 2014 – 2021	Independent
		Dr. Ingrid Thijssen (born 1968)	September 2020-	Independent

Organization

VNO-NCW is the national employers' federation, it has 160 branch organizations as members, these organize 115,000 companies. This includes 80% of the smaller corporations and nearly all larger businesses.^[1]

The VNO-NCW has got a General Board and Board. The general board meets six times a year, and sets the general policy. The Board manages the daily operation of VNO-NCW. The current chair is Bernard Wientjes. The last chairs of the organization have been member of either the liberal VVD or the Christian-democratic CDA.

Several formally independent regional employers' associations, VNO-NCW North, VNO-NCW West, the Employers' Association of Brabant and Zeeland, and the Employers' Association of Limburg, cooperate with VNO-NCW.

The organization publishes Forum, its own magazine. AWVN is an advisory organization linked to VNO-NCW specialized in labour relations. De Baak is an educative institution for leadership, entrepreneurship and professionals who seek for inspiration, personal development, knowledge, and insights. Evolved from the largest employer’s organization in the Netherlands (the VNO-NCW – also known as "the voice" of Dutch business).