The union side told the APA that the employer side was using a “destructive way of negotiating”. If there is no result at the next round of negotiations on January 15th, this would result in protests.
“It was only in the fourth round of negotiations that the employers put an offer of 6.25 percent on the minimum salaries and 5 percent on the actual salary amount on the table. The basis for the negotiations is the average annual inflation of the past year of 7.8 percent,” said the chief negotiator GPA union, Sandra Steiner, on the initial situation.
However, there is movement among the metal workers, where a “competition protection clause” was agreed upon in the wage round in autumn 2023. It applies to companies with high personnel cost burdens and enables the actual increase to be reduced. As the “Kurier” reports, 150 companies have submitted an application. A joint inspection by the KV partners has not yet taken place, according to the PRO-GE union. If the company’s request is rejected, the unpaid money will have to be paid back to the employees from May.
Yesterday, Thursday, industry representative Adolf Kerbl warned of job cuts in the foundry industry, in which around 6,500 people across Austria are currently finding jobs. Ten percent of the jobs would be shaky.
