After the broken collective labor agreement negotiations for railway workers, the fronts hardened further. There is a nationwide warning strike on Monday.
The vida union justified the strike approval with a “lack of appreciation” and a “only cosmetically embellished offer” on the part of the employer. The employers had interrupted negotiations on a new collective labor agreement (KV) in the rail sector in the fourth round, the WKÖ Railways Association announced on Sunday evening. “We’re not getting any further and we’re talking to a wall,” explains chief negotiator Thomas Scheiber.
“In yesterday’s round of negotiations, we made several concessions to employers and, among other things, adjusted our offer to 400 euros per month on KV and IST wages,” says Gerhard Tauchner, deputy chairman of the railway department in vida. “The employers have made an offer that could lead to a real wage fall of up to two percent given the continued rise in inflation.”
The vida union had already threatened to strike during the negotiations, even though they had received up to 12 percent more salary, said union representative Scheiber. “It is excessive and irresponsible to propose strike scenarios against the background of this offer,” he criticized. “The union has completely lost touch with reality. An increase of up to 24 percent on salaries and thus a total of more than 400 million euros is unaffordable for companies and jobs are therefore at risk,” said the negotiator.
ÖBB wants to increase salaries to at least 2000 euros gross
The trade association now advises its more than 65 member companies, including ÖBB and Westbahn, “on a voluntary basis and taking into account future increases in health insurance, to limit wages and salaries to at least 12 months as of December 1, 2022. 200 euros per month but to be increased by 7.5 percent”. As the largest employer in the industry, the ÖBB wants to comply with the recommendation. As ÖBB board member Andreas Matthä explained at a press conference, all salaries must also be increased to a minimum of 2,000 euros gross .
Both sides stressed on Monday that they were ready to continue negotiations. The vida calls on employers to return to the negotiating table. The employer side hopes that vida will change its mind. Mattha demanded that talks be resumed.
Source: Krone
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