In the current autumn wage round, a conclusion has not only been reached in the metal sector in recent days. In the freight transport sector, for example, minimum wages will increase by 9.17 percent, but at least by 165 euros.
In the glassblowing and glass instruments industry, incomes will increase by nine percent, and at Raiffeisen Ware Austria, monthly wages will increase by 8.7 percent. There was an increase of 9.3 percent among road companies.
Things are still going smoothly in the collective labor agreement negotiations for IT employees. After three rounds of discussions, there is still no offer from the employer side. The GPA union, in turn, is demanding an increase of 9.75 percent. Annual inflation for 2023 is taken into account, which is 7.75 percent. Negotiations will continue on Wednesday and if no agreement is reached, a company meeting will take place.
There is still no offer for trade workers
Agreement must be reached on Thursday after several rounds in the second largest group, the approximately 430,000 employees in the retail sector. Otherwise, the warning attacks will continue. Recently, employees at more than 300 retailers in Austria stopped working. The employer side currently offers a plus of six percent and a one-off bonus of 1,000 euros. The union, on the other hand, demands a pay increase of 9.4 percent and a fixed amount of 15 euros per month.
There is currently no agreement on the 2024 collective labor agreement for trade workers. Talks for the approximately 150,000 employees were interrupted on Tuesday after the first round. “No offer has been put on the table,” the Vida union criticized on Tuesday.
“Competition Protection Clause” for Metalheads
In the metal sector, which traditionally heralds the autumn wage round, agreement was reached last Thursday on an increase of 8.6 percent, with this figure being ten percent for lower income groups. However, the agreement is conditional on the social partners agreeing on a “competition safeguard clause”. The first conversations took place on Monday, details were not disclosed.
In principle, the clause is aimed at companies with high personnel costs. Depending on these costs, one-off payments, leave, training or additional training measures can be agreed at company level. The aim is to reduce the ten percent wage increase if necessary.
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.
