The fronts between employers and employees in the metal industry have become more than hardened. While strikes are currently taking place across Austria, a new negotiation date has been set in the fight for a new collective agreement.
The interrupted KV negotiations will continue next Monday.
The workers’ strike continues and according to the unions, Thursday is the strongest day of the protest that has been going on since Tuesday. The work stoppages would last until Friday, the report said. The employers emphasized again on Thursday that they were always willing to negotiate, but were not afraid of strikes.
“The economic situation is very difficult for most companies, and many are already starting to cut jobs. Strikes add fuel to the fire instead of working together to ensure safe economic conditions,” Christian Knill, president of the Metal Technology Industry Association (FMTI), said today.
It is clear that the unions must take action, “because negotiations are not a one-way street,” Knill emphasized. He reiterated employers’ position that they “are not solely responsible for maintaining purchasing power.”
Meanwhile, the PRO-GE and GPA unions continue their strike, pointing out that no agreement has been reached in the other sectors of the metal industry (automotive industry, foundry industry, mining companies, gas and heat suppliers and non-ferrous metal industry). not yet reached, because the collective labor agreement (KV) 2024 has been reached.
“The PRO-GE and GPA unions have therefore started to extend the combat measures to these companies as well. Companies throughout the metal industry are now on strike,” said the two chief negotiators Reinhold Binder (PRO-GE) and Karl Dürtscher (GPA) in a press release.
Today there is a protest march at the Engel Austria company in Schwertberg (Upper Austria) with more than 2,000 employees. This will lead from the factory site to the city in the morning.
The unions continue to demand a wage increase of 11.6 percent, and employers have also recently introduced socially distributed wage increases of an average of 6 percent (2.7 percent plus a monthly fixed amount of 130 euros as a sustainable wage or salary increase). as a tax-free one-off payment of 1,200 euros net. The bakers recently reached a deal. Their KV minimum wage will increase by 9.71 percent and is therefore in line with the increase in pensions.
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.
