The pressure on the trade unions is greater than ever: with inflation around ten percent, members expect their interest group to really “boost”. In three sectors – trade, railway workers and beer brewers – the ÖGB has already applied for “release to strike”.
This is of course granted because it wants to put pressure on the employer side. But there is a reason why Austria has very few strike days in international comparison. Because even if things sometimes get very serious, an agreement is usually reached ‘five to twelve’. Then we praise each other for our well-functioning social partnership.
It is not uncommon for staff meetings to take place during pay negotiations with short work breaks. But the last “real” major strike was in October 2011 among the metalworkers. This time it will hardly come to that in the sectors mentioned.
In retail, a negotiation date for next Tuesday has already been agreed before things get “serious”. But both sides know that the union is not so firmly entrenched in trade that a truly widespread strike could take place. Perhaps there is a long tradition of a ‘night session’ in which the negotiators reach an agreement exhausted at four in the morning.
The position of the workers is stronger for the railway workers, standing trains in the early hours would lead to a real traffic chaos. But the employers have already persevered and will pay 7.5 percent (= average inflation) from December 1, even without an agreement. A typical “Austrian solution” would also be to get together again in the weekend before the planned strike on Monday and at some point to come to an agreement through gritted teeth.
Then both parties can see themselves as winners.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
