Collective agreement in retail: “Both sides can be equally dissatisfied”

“No reason for excessive celebration,” said the chief negotiator of the GPA union, commenting on the result for the 430,000 retail employees. You will receive a salary increase of 3.3 percent in 2025 – at the beginning of the negotiations, 4.8 percent was still required. Employers recently offered 3.1 percent.

• Read here: Handels-KV: Agreement in the fifth round of negotiations

A deal has already been reached for 2026: up to rolling inflation of 2.3 percent, salaries will then rise 0.5 percent above the inflation rate. With rolling inflation of 2.8 percent, the salary increase is only 0.1 percent. From three percent onwards, the negotiations will be renegotiated.

“It’s a good compromise,” says Christoph Teller, head of the Institute for Trade, Sales and Marketing at the JKU in Linz. “Both sides can be equally dissatisfied with the result.” The conclusion brings planning security for the companies. Last Friday and Saturday, the union called for protest demonstrations in Linz and Vienna. Without a deal, strikes would have been possible in the middle of the Christmas season.

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