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After just 4 hours, the social partners broke off their negotiations on a new salary agreement for over 430,000 commercial employees and postponed them to November 28th. Employer representative and trade chairman Rainer Trefelik complained that “the union was absolutely not prepared to seriously discuss our offer today.” Instead, she “even increased” her demands, Trefelik said after the discussion, according to a broadcast.
“Instead, they (the union, note) confronted us with a counter-demand that corresponds to an increase of up to 11.55 percent in the most important salary group. (…) On this basis, negotiations cannot be carried out in a constructive, social partnership style take place,” Trefelik said on Thursday.
Offer from the Chamber of Commerce
The Chamber of Commerce only presented its offer in today’s third round. Regardless of the salary level, they offered a plus of 5 percent from 2024 and an additional one-off payment of 800 euros. The “cost-of-living bonus” is tax-free, meaning employees would receive more net income. The union came into the ring demanding an 11 percent increase in wages and always rejected one-off payments in advance.
Also read:
- Commercial KV: Employers offer 5 percent plus a one-off payment of 800 euros
- Handels-KV: The employees are also demonstrating
According to the dealers’ calculations, the starting salary offer corresponds to an increase of 11.13 percent. In higher salary categories (2,500 to 3,000 euros gross salary per month) the increase would be 8.79 percent or 8.16 percent from next year.
Wage-salary scissors
While prices have increased by an average of 30.7 percent since 2016, wages have only increased by an average of 24.7 percent, and in retail by 22.6 percent, according to Jakob Sturn, economist at the Momentum Institute. “To ensure that employees do not lose their disposable income due to increased prices, the Momentum Institute recommends that wages should at least be adjusted to reflect rolling inflation. In order to increase purchasing power, sales must be above the inflation rate,” says the trade union-affiliated institute.
“There is nothing more possible. (…) We hope that the union will also recognize the acute danger to employment in retail and act responsibly,” said trade association managing director Rainer Will, commenting on the employers’ offer. Further combat measures would have a lose-lose effect, as further disruption to operations leading to the Christmas business would reduce sales and inevitably result in negative job effects. According to Will, many trading companies have long been on the verge of cost-related costs. As a private interest group, the trade association represents around 4,000 members from the retail sector, but does not sit at the negotiating table.
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