Now it is certain: wages and salaries in the metal industry will increase by 4.8 percent from November 1. As agreed last year, this is one percent more than inflation. This increases real wages for most of the nearly 200,000 workers. But again there are exceptions.
Today the unions PRO-GE and GPA signed collective agreements with all six employers’ organizations in the metal industry for approximately 200,000 employees. Result: Actual wages and salaries increase by 4.8 percent (rolling inflation plus one percent). Students’ incomes increase on average by approximately 5.4 percent. Allowances and expense allowances will increase by 3.8 percent. The allowance for night work or the third shift will be increased by 8.16 percent. The new minimum wage or minimum basic salary is 2,518.43 euros.
Real income is rising for the majority of metalheads
“The increases will safeguard the incomes of around 200,000 workers who are still facing the consequences of the wave of inflation and interest rate increases,” said the two chief negotiators on the employee side, Reinhold Binder (PRO-GE) and Karl Dürtscher (GPA). ). The aim is to “revive lost confidence and stimulate investment and consumption in Austrian households”.
However, not all employees will receive the full increase. Just like last year, a hardship clause applies to companies with particularly high costs: if personnel costs exceed 75 percent or even 90 percent of the added value, the increase can be reduced by 0.75 percent or 1.5 percent. However, this must be compensated by more free time or a one-off payment. “We are currently experiencing the longest recession phase since 1946. This hardship clause is mainly intended to help labor-intensive companies to secure employment,” say Binder and Dürtscher.
We show how much gross and net remains
Using calculations from finanzrechner.at, the ‘Krone’ shows how much more the metalheads actually have left – gross, net and taking into account the increase in tax brackets (keyword ‘cold progression’) from January 2025 (see graph).
The conclusion in detail:
- Actual increase: +4.8%
- CV increase: +3.8%
- Neuer Minimum wage: 2518.43 euros
- increase in Student income +5.37% (average): 1st year of training 1050 euros / 2nd year of training 1270 euros / 3rd year of training 1625 euros / 4th year of training 2110 euros
- Allowances and expense reimbursements: +3.8%
- allowance Night work / 3rd layer: +8.16%
- Mileage money from January 1, 2025: 0.50 and from 15,000 km 0.47 euros
- Hardship clause: In companies that are in a particularly difficult situation, a smaller pay increase can be agreed if this is compensated by more time off, a one-off payment or the like.
- Validity date: November 1, 2024
- Duration: Twelve months
Last year, after tough negotiations, the union and employers agreed on an average increase of 8.6 percent (see graph). At the time, the deal was one percentage point below the rolling inflation rate of 9.6 percent. In contrast to this year, there was social disappointment: in concrete terms, wages increased by ten percent as of November 1, 2023, but with a maximum of 400 euros per month.
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.
