While the railway workers there failed to reach an agreement in the KV dispute on Sunday and there was therefore a day-long railway strike in Austria on Monday, the wage dispute in the retail sector has also worsened. For example, the ÖGB has given its sub-union GPA permission to strike in the retail sector. There is a risk of shortages coming Friday and Saturday, the GPA said.
The bargaining trade KV involves higher salaries for some 430,000 employees and apprentices in the retail, wholesale and car trade. There could be further talks on Tuesday, but the date has not yet been set, according to the GPA. The employers recently offered a four percent salary increase and a one-off payment of three percent. The union rejects one-off payments and, given the high inflation, demands a ten percent increase.
Offer ‘unacceptable’ due to inflation
The employer’s offer was “unacceptable for the commercial workers given the current inflation rate,” GPA chief negotiator Helga Fichtinger said in a press release. It is a “cheap package, because a permanent salary increase of four percent and a one-off payment of three percent yields arithmetic seven percent, but the lasting effect is only four percent on salary.”
The changed requirement of the GPA is plus 8.5 percent with a minimum amount of 200 euros, which means a considerably higher salary increase of eleven percent for lower salary groups.
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.
