At the same time, GPA chief negotiator Helga Fichtinger rejected the employers’ wish to take the government’s cost-of-living aids into account in the collective bargaining negotiations. “The employees would then pay for their salary increases themselves with their tax money,” she argues in a broadcast. An inflation rate of 6.9 percent was jointly agreed as the basis for negotiations.
In addition to the salary increase, the trade union demands a fixed amount of 150 euros per month for apprentices, receipt of all overpayments, easier access to the sixth week of vacation and a surcharge for overtime from the first hour of the overage.
The employers have not yet responded to this demand, but even before the negotiations began, Fichtiger and employer negotiator Rainer Trefelik unanimously described the initial situation as “challenging” in a brief joint press conference. Even if both emphasized the good atmosphere in the discussion, the fault lines were quickly clear. Fichtiger called for “permanent, strong salary increases”. Trefelik, on the other hand, wants to see the government’s cost-of-living aid included in the overall package and assumes that this will at least offset 2.5 percentage points of inflation. “The inflation rate is just one piece of the puzzle,” said Trefelik. A sixth week of vacation, which the union has been demanding for years, is “unaffordable”. In response to criticism that the increase in KV was not sustainable if one-off anti-inflation measures were taken into account, Trefelik said it was now a matter of creating a “reasonable conclusion”. “We don’t know what will happen next year.” In addition, the extensive elimination of cold progression would also increase net income. It is important to get the jobs at all and not “overwhelm the companies”. Another problem for the trade is the bad “buying mood”, but the economic success of the trade depends to a large extent on this.
“Purchasing power can be increased by increasing salaries,” Fichtinger replied. A permanent increase in wages is also important “because gross income is the basis for benefits from pension insurance or unemployment benefits,” added Martin Müllauer, head of the trade sector in the GPA trade union. According to Fichtiger, employees in retail “really no longer have any financial leeway,” “every tenth point” more salary makes a difference with 430,000 retail employees. In any case, the offer of the metalworking employers for a 4.1 percent wage increase cannot point the way for the trade. If a discount battle should now be instigated, “then I just say clearly: trade employees are not bargains”. It will take effort from both sides.
Fichtinger and Trefelik tried to create a good mood, in contrast to the metalheads, KV negotiations in this industry usually take place without saber-rattling. But Trefelik said, “I assume that we will exchange ideas for a longer time”.
Source: Nachrichten
