But whether the course will still be set in the direction of agreement and thus cancellation of the 24-hour rail strike announced for Monday remained open until the end. The fronts were hardened further and the ideas for a conclusion of the KV negotiations for around 65 companies such as ÖBB or Westbahn were far apart. The strike preparations are underway.Vienna. In the run-up, both sides accused each other of irresponsible behavior. Nevertheless, one tries again with talks. The employee representatives of the vida union are demanding 400 euros more on all KV and actual wages for the railway workers. However, the demanded 400 euros are far too much for the employer representatives of the Chamber of Commerce (WKÖ).
Workers: It takes insight
On the question of what it takes for the warning strike to be averted, chief employee negotiator Gerhard Tauchner told APA: “The Chamber of Commerce needs to understand that what we have asked for is necessary for the railway workers to lead a decent life can continue.” Tauchner went on to say about any leeway: “There is leeway in shaping the result, of course a small part can be done with the ‘cost-of-living bonus’ offered,” he alluded to a one-off payment of 1,000 euros offered by employers. The main part of a deal must be the increase in the KV and actual salaries, Tauchner confirmed.
Employers: Confident to avert strike
“If you look at the last statements, I’m not very confident that it will be possible to avert this strike,” said employer chief negotiator Thomas Scheiber in an interview with APA shortly before the start of negotiations. Even you want to go “solution-oriented” in the talks. But the pressure that has built up is not helpful, said Scheiber about the impending warning strike: “Forcing talks tends to prevent solutions.”
The employee representatives of the vida union are demanding 400 euros more on all KV and actual wages for the railway workers. That would be an average of around 12 percent, if the current other degrees for metalworkers or civil servants would clearly outperform. It’s not about framework law. The argument is based on relatively low starting salaries and salaries, some of which are below the risk of poverty threshold. They originally asked for 500 euros, but employers had already been accommodated by 20 percent, Tauchner recently emphasized.
The required 400 euros are the employer representatives of the Economic Chamber (WKÖ) too high. However, according to their own statements, they still offer the best offer in the previous autumn wage round. “We offer an average of 8 percent,” explained Scheiber. “Everyone should get an additional 7.5 percent or at least 200 euros. That fits with the signal from the union that lower salary brackets need a bigger increase.” In addition, the companies are also willing to pay 1,000 euros as a one-off payment to all employees in December as a “cost-of-living bonus”. “That would not result in full compensation for inflation in the upper range, but an increase of up to 13 percent in the lower salary brackets,” said Scheiber. “None of the collective agreements concluded so far this year even come close to our offer.”
One-off payments have so far been rejected by the individual ÖGB sub-unions in the current autumn wage round. Such are “not sustainable”.
If there is a strike, all rail traffic in Austria will come to a standstill on Monday, ÖBB warned. They asked passengers to postpone non-essential journeys or to choose alternative travel options. There may be failures on the Nightjet and EuroNight connections from Sunday evening or until Tuesday morning. In the event of a strike, the railways will announce details of restrictions, delays or cancellations on oebb.at/streik, the ÖBB social media channels and in the SCOTTY timetable information. According to Scheiber, all railway companies are trying to inform passengers as best they can and to replace the tickets or keep them valid.
Source: Nachrichten
