Warning strikes are planned in stores for today’s shopping Saturday (see video above). Although these are carried out almost throughout Austria, the restrictions are limited. The union’s argument: There was no time to prepare because an agreement was expected in the fifth round of negotiations on Thursday.
Warning strikes can be expected in Innsbruck, at the Europark in Salzburg and at the Maxi Markt in Linz. According to the union, demonstrations are also planned in St. Pölten, Graz and Klagenfurt. In Klagenfurt, access to a shopping center is blocked. The scale of the strikes varied, it was said. “We have areas where 100 employees participate. But we also have branches where 10.15 employees work,” Helga Fichtinger of the union told Ö1.
There were already meetings on Friday at Reumannplatz in Vienna and Schillerplatz in Linz. Particularly high sales could be recorded on Marian Day, when you can shop, and the second shopping Saturday in Advent. “The weather is playing into the hands of trade,” says Clemes Sagmeister, president of the Bregenz Economic Community. It was initially unclear how many companies were affected by the work stoppages on Saturday.
Chairman of Retail: “Shopping experience not reduced”
“If a company on a shopping street goes on strike for an hour, the shopping experience is not diminished,” says retail chairman Rainer Trefelik. Because an agreement was expected at the Handels-KV, the union says it did not prepare sufficiently for the strikes.
The collective labor agreement negotiations concern the salaries of 430,000 employees and students. So far, no salary agreement for 2024 has been reached in five rounds. The union wants an increase of at least the annual inflation of 9.2 percent; employers recently offered eight percent.
The warning attacks will continue next week.
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.
