After the 24-hour strike by railway workers, a labor dispute is also looming in the middle of Advent. The fifth round of negotiations for a new collective labor agreement will decide whether there will be warning strikes or not. The social partners will negotiate in the Chamber of Commerce from 11 a.m.
As a precaution, the union has received strike permission from the ÖGB. If no agreement is reached on Tuesday, the store employees will take to the streets on Friday and Saturday – and therefore in the second weekend of Advent. The Handels-KV is one of the largest collective agreements in Austria and affects approximately 430,000 employees and apprentices in the retail, wholesale and car trade. The union demands a salary increase of 8.5 percent with a minimum of 200 euros.
The employers propose a tax-free bonus, which will largely be paid to employees this year, and offer a five percent increase on the collectively agreed minimum wage. The union rejects one-off payments and wants a decent salary increase given the high inflation.
Employer chief negotiator calls for “serious” negotiations
For employer chief negotiator Rainer Trefelik, the union’s “blockade” attitude is incomprehensible. “Since the last round of negotiations, the number of employer companies that have agreed to pay the living premium in full this year has increased significantly. This means that at least 165,000 store employees can still benefit from the instant bonus this year,” Trefelik said in a broadcast on Sunday evening. He calls on the union to “negotiate seriously, as befits a good style of social partnership, instead of looking for escalation and preparing strikes”.
Increase must be “vigorous and sustainable”.
Union chief negotiator Helga Fichtinger sees the offer as a “sham” because the fixed salary increase is too low. The fact that 70 percent of all retail employees are women – many of them part-time – is also discussed. “The salary increase must be substantial and permanent – the current offer of one-off payments does not help the women. Because the effect of the one-off payment is ebbing away, but the increased prices remain,” emphasized ÖGB women’s president Korinna Schumann via broadcast.
A conclusion towards a minimum wage of 2000 euros gross (currently that is 1800 euros gross) would help many, says Schumann.
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.
