Negotiations have stopped – Austria’s bus drivers can now go on strike

This was announced by the Vida union on Friday in a broadcast. Employers have so far offered an eight percent salary increase, while the union is demanding a 12.5 percent increase and an adjustment to terms and conditions. Shared services without a paid break on a calendar day should be abolished, she says. In addition, there must be a wage increase after five years of service. Until now, these have only been regulated in the collective labor agreement (KV) after ten and twenty years.

According to the KV, a driver currently earns at least 2341.66 euros gross per month in the first year, surcharges are not included here. In the second to the tenth year, however, it is only slightly more with 2350.32 euros, from the eleventh year the minimum wage is 2367.64 euros gross (source: Austrian Federal Economic Chamber).

The industry has 15,000 employees
Austria employs about 15,000 bus drivers who are affected by the current KV negotiations. “With inflation exploding, colleagues now need big pay raises so they can continue to pay their current bills and finance their lives. With inflation currently at 10.6 percent and the price avalanche predicted for the coming year, the offer from the employers clearly too low,” says Markus Petritsch, one of the negotiating union members. The union was “of course willing to negotiate”.

If no agreement is reached next week, a strike cannot be ruled out. “We will now inform our members of the employer’s offer and ask them as a precaution whether they should accept it or whether they are willing to support combat measures up to and including a strike to enforce our demands,” Petritsch announced. . on a broadcast.