The new wage negotiations for about 50,000 railway workers were initially interrupted on Sunday night. Negotiations will continue on Sunday at 11 a.m., union vida said. The fronts were hardened before the talk began. The ideas for a conclusion of the KV negotiations for about 65 companies, including ÖBB or Westbahn, were far apart. Strike preparations continue.
To avoid large-scale failures, an agreement had to be reached early on Sunday afternoon. In the run-up, both sides accused each other of irresponsible behavior. Yet they try again with conversations. The employee representatives of the vida union are demanding 400 euros more on all KV and actual wages for the railway workers. However, the requested 400 euros is far too much for the employer representatives of the Chamber of Commerce (WKÖ).
Salary must be sufficient for a “decent living”.
When asked what is needed to avert the warning strike, Gerhard Tauchner, the chief negotiator for workers, said: “The Chamber of Commerce needs to understand that what we have asked for is necessary for the railway workers to be able to continue to live a decent life.” Tauchner continued about any leeway: “There is leeway in the shaping of the result, of course a small part can be done through the ‘cost of living’ offered,” he alluded to a one-off payment of 1000 euros offered by the employers. The most important part of a deal should be the increase in KV and actual salaries, Tauchner confirmed.
“If you look at the latest statements, I am not very confident that it will be possible to avert this strike,” said chief employers negotiator Thomas Scheiber shortly before the start of negotiations. You also want to go “solution-oriented” in the conversations. However, the pressure built up isn’t helping, Scheiber said of the impending warning strike: “Forced talks tend to get in the way of solutions.”
Demand for a salary increase of 400 euros
The employee representatives of the vida union are demanding 400 euros more on all KV and actual wages for the railway workers. According to the union, this would be an average of 12 percent more if the current other diplomas for metalworkers or civil servants were clearly higher than that. Meanwhile, employers even spoke of 13.3 percent, which would mean the requirement of 400 euros.
Is train traffic at a standstill?
If there is a strike, all train traffic in Austria will come to a standstill on Monday, ÖBB warned. They asked passengers to postpone non-essential travel or choose alternative travel options. There may be cancellations of the Nightjet and EuroNight connections from Sunday evening or until Tuesday morning. According to Scheiber, all railway companies try to inform travelers as well as possible and to replace tickets or keep them valid.
Mailboxes would not be affected by the strike. This also applies to municipal transport companies such as the subway in Vienna. However, the S-Bahn, which would not run during a strike, is also particularly important for commuting to and in Vienna. Failures here recently due to a work meeting in the context of the KV dispute have already led to the dissatisfaction of some passengers.
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.
