At the start of the 2020 pandemic, there isn’t much left of the glory. Retailers fight for more money. Employers want to ‘fire’ them. The collective labor agreement negotiations will continue on Thursday.
“One, two, three”, counted one of the union members, after which the entrance to the Interspar store on Oberfeldstraße in Wels was for a few moments filled with chants of “We want more”, while stickers with the slogan “I’m not a bargain !” were distributed to the public.
On Tuesday at 7.30 am Sabine Eiblmaier, the central works councilwoman at Interspar, invited the Upper Austrian head of the GPA union, Wolfgang Gerstmayer, to the company meeting. About 50 employees came. Opening hours were not affected, the store was temporarily in operation with minimal staffing. The goal: to provide employees with comprehensive information before the third collective labor agreement on Thursday.
“We will not accept that”, emphasizes Eiblmaier, in view of the wage increase of 3.5% plus a one-off payment. “In 2020 we were the heroes of the republic, now we count for nothing – not even the employers’ representatives,” said the chief negotiator of the GPA plain text.
“Life is getting more expensive, you need the money,” Gerstmayer emphasized. Eiblmaier was also a bull’s eye: “Soon we can no longer afford to live on our salary.”
“It functions‘it’s not”
The situation for the employees is extremely demanding: overtime is the order of the day to compensate for the lack of staff. In addition, the willingness to use violence among customers is increasing. Eiblmaier: “We need protection, and now we want to get rid of it – it doesn’t work that way.”
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
