KV-Abc: Who negotiates, who doesn’t have one and when you can change

This week things are happening in quick succession: negotiations for the 430,000 retail employees will continue today. And on Thursday, employer and employee representatives will make a new attempt at a metal workers agreement in the eighth round. What the status is in the individual sectors and which sectors do not have a collective agreement (KV).

What is the status of the negotiations? Three rounds of trade negotiations remained inconclusive. Regardless of salary level, employers offer a plus five percent and a one-off payment of 800 euros. The GPA union recently demanded 9.5 percent and a fixed amount of 40 euros. Two months after the demands were handed over, the metal workers are going into their eighth round, and the strike will continue until tomorrow. If no agreement is reached again on Thursday, there is a risk of a continuation or expansion.

There could also be a threat of strikes in the social economy (130,000 employees); negotiations are interrupted in the IT sector, which has 65,000 employees.

Why is it so tough this year? The crux of the negotiations is rolling inflation, i.e. the average price increase over the past twelve months: This was high and is currently falling. The export-oriented metal companies argue that at a plus ten percent they would shoot themselves out of the market because this plus cannot be added to the prices. The unions reject one-off payments, which would mean tens of thousands of euros would be missing before retirement.

Several sectors have reached an agreement almost silently (see graphic for details): “The rolling inflation as a basis was not questioned here,” says Wolfgang Gerstmayer, GPA managing director in Upper Austria. Since negotiations did not take place over many rounds, there was no hardening of positions.

Does every industry have a KV? 550 KVs are negotiated in Austria every year. The negotiating parties on the employers’ side are the professional associations or groups, and on the employees’ side, the sub-unions. According to the GPA, 98 percent of employees in Austria are recorded – a very high value by international comparison: exceptions include leisure or entertainment businesses and the graphic arts industry. Employees in law firms in Upper Austria, Salzburg and Carinthia also have to get by without KV. The remuneration guidelines of the Austrian Bar Association apply to them. In the remaining federal states, the respective bar associations have negotiated collective agreements with the union. Anyone who is not subject to a KV must negotiate bilaterally with their employer, for example about an annual wage increase or the 13th and 14th salaries.

Multi-year degrees are possible, but rare, as happened in the social economy in 2020: Here, the three-year degree was accompanied by a change in working hours to 37 hours. Hairdressers and railway workers have also recently taken longer to complete their contracts (15 and 18 months respectively). “Such deals represent a certain risk for both sides,” says Anna Daimler, general secretary of the vida union.

Are you trapped in a KV?? A company can also change a KV, especially as a result of strong growth: One example is Fronius, where since 2020 the KV no longer applies to the metal industry, but to the electrical and electronics industry.