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The union wants to see a significant increase in wages due to high inflation and is prepared for a riot if necessary. There is already a strike clearance from the ÖGB. If the new round of talks fails to reach a conclusion, the union made it clear that a first wave of warning strikes would follow from November 30th.
The employers recently offered a plus of 5 percent plus a one-off payment of 800 euros. The GPA union reduced its original demand to 9.5 percent and a fixed amount of 40 euros. On Tuesday, the social partners agreed on a salary increase of 9.2 percent for employees in the private care, health and social sectors.
- more on the subject: Collective agreement: who negotiates, who doesn’t have one and when you can change
Deals of more than 9 percent are not possible for companies in retail, the plus in the social economy is financed by the public sector, admitted WKÖ trade chairman and employer negotiator Rainer Trefelik on Tuesday in an article in the Ö1 lunchtime journal. “Unfortunately, we don’t have this option in retail. We have to generate the money, we have to keep the businesses running,” said Trefelik.
Warning strikes in the Christmas business?
The union is unimpressed by this and is promising warning strikes during the Christmas season. “We are prepared, there have been many, many company meetings. The approval of the willingness to strike is higher than ever,” said GPA chief negotiator Helga Fichtinger. The warning strikes would start on November 30th. The first shopping Saturday in Advent takes place on December 2nd.
Since there is still no salary agreement for the pioneering metalheads, an agreement for the 430,000 employees in the trade is considered unlikely. After strikes in numerous metal companies, the eighth round of talks is scheduled to take place there on November 30th.
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