After almost ten hours, in the fifth round of negotiations on Tuesday evening, employers and unions agreed on a new collective agreement for around 430,000 employees and apprentices in retail. According to releases from trade unions and employer representatives, salaries and apprenticeship allowances will increase by at least 7 percent or at least 145 euros gross per month. With that, the threat of strikes is off the table.
According to the employer’s statement, this corresponds to an average increase of 7.19 percent. The union’s dispatch speaks of an average increase in salaries of 7.31 percent, and the minimum amount of 145 euros means an increase of up to 8.67 percent. However, the broadcasts agree that the starting salary will be increased by 8.06 percent from the current 1,800 euros to 1,945 euros per month. This also increases the income of apprentices in retail. Apprentices in the first year of training will in future receive EUR 800, in the second year EUR 1,025, in the third year EUR 1,300 and in the fourth year EUR 1,350.
One-off payment would have been a huge loss
“For us it was very important that we were able to achieve a permanently effective salary agreement above the underlying inflation rate for everyone and a greater increase in the lower salary groups. A one-off payment would have been a huge loss for the employees in the future. It’s up to the trading companies to grant tax-free bonuses at the company level in addition to the increase under the collective agreement,” said the chief trade union negotiator Helga Fichtinger in the broadcast.
In the fifth round, the employers submitted a dual offer with two variants: The first variant provided for an 8 percent increase in salaries, which is made up of an increase in the KV table by 5 percent plus a bonus of 3 percent, it is said in the release of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKÖ). The second variant included the linear increase of 7 percent. “The union opted for the linear increase. From our point of view, this is regrettable, because the other model would have brought more bottom line and also meant an enormous net benefit for the employees due to the tax exemption, in many cases even this year On average, the premium would have been around EUR 1,000 net,” said Rainer Trefelik, chief negotiator for the employer, in the broadcast.
No strike in the middle of the Christmas business
Before the last round of negotiations, the union increased the pressure on the employers and, as a precaution, had already obtained permission to strike from the ÖGB. If no agreement had been reached today, the retail employees would have stopped work on Friday and Saturday in the middle of the Christmas shopping season.
The Handels-KV is one of the largest collective agreements in Austria and affects around 430,000 employees and apprentices in the retail, wholesale and motor trade. 70 percent of all employees in retail are women. More than a third of them work part-time.
