The KV negotiations on the salaries of almost 50,00 employees in the chemical industry will continue on May 6. In the third round of negotiations on Tuesday, the unions and the trade association failed to reach an agreement. And the unions are already threatening: “Given the hardened situation, further union measures will be taken if the fourth round of negotiations fails.”
According to the negotiating unions PRO-GE and GPA, company meetings will take place across Austria between April 24 and 30.
Employers: the demands of employee representatives are too high
The employers consider the demands of the employee representatives to be too high and referred to the poor order situation and high unit costs in Austria in a press release after the meeting.
Employers offer an average plus of 4.1% with an inflation rate of 6.8%
The Austrian Chemical Industry Association (FCIO) says it offers an average increase of 4.1 percent. According to the employers’ organization, lower incomes, which are mainly affected by inflation, should be increased more.
Inflation over the past twelve months, which forms the basis for the negotiations, was 6.8 percent. A degree below this would mean a loss of real wages, a degree above would mean an increase in real wages.
“This offer, which is significantly below the average inflation rate, does not meet employees’ expectations and cannot be accepted,” the PRO-GE and GPA unions said. They call for “sustainable inflation compensation”.
The employers’ chief negotiator, Berthold Stöger, said that too high a degree would jeopardize the future of the company and thus employment. Austria is the negative leader in Europe when it comes to rising unit labor costs. The cautious tariff policy in Germany, the largest sales market and main competitor, also poses a challenge for the chemical industry in Austria.
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.
