The wage negotiations for the railway workers remain tense: in the railway sector, after a warning strike 14 days ago and talks in the week before and on Monday, further negotiations are underway on Tuesday. There must be a two-year collective labor agreement with several increases. Both sides are essentially optimistic about the talks. Recently, however, the union’s demands have significantly exceeded the employer’s offer.
“We did a lot of calculations last week,” said the employer. But the employee representatives had also recalculated their positions – negotiating circles have told us. However, there must be a much better offer.
“A bid of 218 euros will certainly not be enough”
Trade union Vida recently called for a wage increase of KV and actual wage by 400 euros. This corresponds to an average increase of 12 percent. The employer representatives recently offered 8.4 percent or a minimum increase of 208 euros. “A bid of 218 euros will certainly not be enough,” the union notes.
In the meantime, you should have moved closer to the positions. “The mood is positive and constructive,” Thomas Scheiber, director of Innsbrucker Verkehrsbetriebe and Stubaitalbahn, reported on Monday from the employers’ side. “The negotiations have not failed, they have only been postponed. It’s all about detailed solutions,” adds Scheiber.
Open further strikes if negotiations fail
ÖBB Central Works Council Gerhard Tauchner from the employee side was recently optimistic: “We have come closer. But it is pierced by the middle and lower income groups.” Here in particular, he pleaded for a substantial increase yesterday.
If an agreement is reached today, the union wants its members to vote on it. Tauchner left open whether there would be any more last-minute strikes if negotiations failed. But if so, these would be planned with great care so as not to disrupt Christmas traffic.
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.
