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A validation Study of House of Quality key performance indicators
Appendix 4: Case description De Unie
Summary Case Description De Unie
History
The First labor unions in the Netherlands were raised between 1860 and 1870. The growth of the
industrialization had significant impact on society. The working conditions were bad, child
employment was a normal fact, workdays were very long and the position of employees was very
weak. De Unie is established from several mergers between different independent unions of
different sizes. De Unie BLHP was founded in 1972 and in 1995 the name of the organization was
changed in the current name; De Unie.
Mission and strategy
De Unie has set herself the following target: in a world of life and work where everyone is constantly
faced with fresh choices, to set out together and to find realistic solutions to individual needs and
matters relating to work, income and personal development. De Unie attaches great importance to
carefully handle the interests of society and those of members, staff and stakeholders, in line with
her focus on socially responsible entrepreneurship.
Profile
With members employed in the industrial, service and health care sectors, De Unie is a modern,
independent trade union that goes for custom-made solutions. De Unie is a typical network
organization and contributed to over 300 collective agreements and represents the shared interests
of employees in mergers and reorganizations but also member’s individual interests in the areas of
work, income and personal development. De Unie mainly targets on professionals and are well
represented among middle and senior management. The total number of members nowadays is over
97.000.
According to other labor unions, De Unie distinguishes itself by providing personal support based on
in-depth understanding of businesses and collective agreements. In the area of income, De Unie
provides individual members with advice in particular on taxation, pensions and social security, but
she also handles queries about other matters relating to income.
In addition to the basic products and services of a labor union, De Unie offers her members other
products and services under labels such as UnieReizen (travel) and Member Benefits (financial
advice, insurance and mortgages). In order to create a network of partnerships De Unie works
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