The warning strikes have been postponed, now it’s time to go back to the negotiating table. But ahead of the fifth round of collective bargaining in the metal industry, there is a combative mood on both the employers’ and employees’ sides.
According to the union, company meetings and three-hour warning strikes took place in more than 400 companies or factory locations from Monday to Wednesday. Factory entrances have also been blocked – most recently at voestalpine in Linz, where traffic collapsed. “The willingness to fight is great,” the workers’ two chief negotiators, Reinhold Binder (PRO-GE) and Karl Dürtscher (GPA), said in a press release. “It is now up to employers to make a new offer that takes into account past inflation and is therefore negotiable for us,” the report said. This is the only way to prevent an extension of the strikes.
Chief employer negotiator at the Chamber of Commerce (WKÖ) and entrepreneur Christian Knill recently condemned strikes during the recession as “irresponsible” and “pointless”. The industrial association expected a possible tightening, but still relies on the ability of the domestic social partnership to reach compromises.
“Voodoo Math” and “Chives”
Employee representatives are demanding an 11.6 percent wage increase among metal workers. The employers are offering approximately 5 percent “sustainable wage increases” in two variants. Additional one-off benefits for employees would result in a wage increase of between 8 and 10 percent. The employee representatives call this ‘voodoo math’ and do not want to accept a proposed two-year agreement or one-off payments as an integral part of the KV negotiation outcome. PRO-GE chief negotiator Binder never tires of emphasizing that one-off payments can simply be “the chives in the sandwich”.
Groundbreaking decision for other industries
The Metaller-KV is considered groundbreaking for many industries where collective agreements are subsequently negotiated. This in turn also has consequences for economic expectations. In this context, the Momentum Institute, which is close to worker representatives, emphasizes that wage increases flow back into consumption. Consumer expectations, in turn, are an important part of expected economic growth in the coming year.
If wage and salary growth is “significantly lower (than would be expected based on moving inflation, mind you), the rebound in 2024 could hardly be supported by private consumption and would therefore be weaker,” says Wifo expert Benjamin Bittschi in the ORF. Report Tuesday evening.
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.
