Collective bargaining for the approximately 430,000 employees in the retail, wholesale and car trade began on Tuesday at the Austrian Chamber of Commerce in Vienna. At the start, the employees presented their demand: eleven percent more salary!
Difficult negotiations are also looming in this sector. Last year, after five rounds of negotiations and a threat of strike, employees and employee representatives agreed on a salary increase of seven percent and a minimum of 145 euros from January 1, 2023. According to the union, the average increase in KV salaries was 7.3 percent. The increase in minimum wages was 8.7 percent. The full-time starting salary for commercial employees has since been 1,945 euros gross per month (1,535 euros net).
Nearly two-thirds of retail workers in Austria are women; in retail, the share of women is even higher. Nearly 60 percent of women in retail work part-time, while the part-time rate for men is only about 13 percent.
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.
