The positions between the employers and the trade union are still too far apart, the social partners want to try a new talk on November 22nd. The commercial KV applies to over 400,000 employees.
For employer negotiator Rainer Trefelik, it is “completely incomprehensible why the GPA is still stonewalling and categorically rejecting our 7 percent offer, which consists of the KV table increase and tax-attractive premium payments,” he said Thursday evening after the demolition according to a broadcast.
The union entered the race by demanding a 10 percent pay rise and refusing to pay bonuses. “It is shameful to present a 3 percent one-off payment that only has a one-time effect as a generous offer. But the price increase has a permanent effect,” said the chief trade union negotiator, Helga Fichtinger. “Employers’ offer of a 4 percent pay rise and a one-time payment is far from what workers need right now.” The employee representatives announced the first rallies in public spaces in Vienna and Salzburg for November 16.
The employers offer an increase in the starting salary from 1,800 to 1,900 euros gross and an increase in the apprentice’s income to 800 euros in the first year of apprenticeship, to 1,000 euros in the second and to 1,280 euros in the third year of apprenticeship.
In addition, a tax-free bonus. According to trade chairman Trefelik, the premium for the starting salary is 756 euros net. With a gross salary of 2,000 euros, it is 840 euros and with a salary of 3,000 euros, the bonus is 1,260 euros net. Apprentices should also get the bonus. It would be 200 euros in the first year of training, 300 euros in the second and 400 euros in the third year.
“It is incomprehensible why the union wants to deny the commercial employees this money,” says Trefelik. Well-known retail employers have agreed to pay out the tax-free annual bonus for 2023 this year.
Trefelik sees the situation in retail differently than in other sectors. “The increased energy costs and the reluctance to buy among consumers, which is still noticeable in many retail sectors, do not allow much leeway,” said the industry representative.
Source: Nachrichten
