ÖGB chairman Wolfgang Katzian has set the direction for the pay round in the autumn and made it clear: “This year we demand a minimum wage of 2000 euros.” Until now, demand was 1,700 euros gross, but “1,700 in 2018 is slightly different from this year and next,” says Katzian. Currently, 180,000 of the approximately four million workers earn less than 1,700 euros gross wages.
Katzian did not want to reveal today how high wage demand will be at the start of the autumn wage round with the metal industry. In any case, he assumes that the negotiations will be very difficult, in which all sectors will stand together as a trade union, he announced to journalists on Wednesday.
“People have such cables”
He stressed that wages should follow prices. The demands are not based on forecasts, but on inflation over the past twelve months – of which it is clear how high it was. We also know what profits the companies are making and what dividends have been paid. “People have such cables”, Katzian referred to the mood of the population in this regard. The boss of ÖGB therefore asked the companies to take the employees seriously: “Give serious negotiations.”
It is about ‘securing and further developing’ purchasing power, namely ‘sustainable’ – and one-off benefits, as employers bring them into play, are ‘although nice, but as the name suggests, not sustainable’.
Source: Krone
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