“The wage increases cannot under any circumstances be based on the current monthly inflation rate alone or on the forecast economic downturn,” said vida boss Roman Hebenstreit to journalists on Monday. Traditionally, the union only wants to announce concrete wage demands at the start of collective bargaining negotiations. In view of the metalworkers’ two-year KV agreement last year, the focus of the autumn wage round this year is on other sectors, such as trade and the railways. The expected decline in economic output in Austria in the current year and the second year of recession in a row will probably make the KV negotiations more difficult.
According to a flash estimate from Statistics Austria, the inflation rate in September was 1.8 percent. Economic researchers from Wifo and IHS predict consumer prices (CPI) will rise by 3.1 and 3.0 percent, respectively, in 2024. Depending on the start of the KV negotiations, the rolling inflation of the past twelve months that serves as the basis for negotiations varies. For October 2023 to September 2024, Wifo economist Josef Baumgartner predicts inflation of 3.8 percent. The vida union referred to rolling inflation of 4.6 percent, without specifying a period.
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Autumn wage round starts without metal workers
Vida insists on a noticeable increase
The vida union is insisting on a noticeable increase in the KV minimum salaries in the sectors to be negotiated. “With current starting wages around 2,000 euros gross per month, there is still a lot of catching up to do in view of the massive increase in living costs in some industries over the last two and a half years,” said Hebenstreit at a press conference with other vida officials in Vienna. The government’s anti-inflation payments have “fizzled out”, and the prices for rent and food, among other things, remain “extremely high”, criticized the vida boss.
The collectively agreed full-time minimum salaries currently amount to 2,000 gross per month (around 1,600 euros net) in the cleaning industry, between 1,923 and 2,591 euros gross in the railway industry, 2,025 euros gross for trade workers, 2,043 euros gross in freight transport and 2,174 euros or 2,773 euros gross (drivers) for private bus companies.
Every other weekend free for cleaners
The collective bargaining negotiations in the cleaning industry – 54,000 employees, two thirds of which are female – start on Tuesday, October 8th. In addition to a “wage increase above inflation”, the deputy vida boss Olivia Janisch is demanding a guaranteed day off for cleaning workers every other weekend and that employers announce and adhere to rosters in a timely manner.
After a 24-hour warning strike, the railway employers and the union agreed on a two-year collective bargaining agreement at the end of 2022. The collective bargaining negotiations for the 55,000 railway employees, 16 percent of whom are female, start on October 22nd this year. For the chairman of the vida railway department, Gerhard Tauchner, the KV qualification must be “more than inflation”. He assumes that there is an “understanding among the companies” and that there will be “no escalations”. Tauchner also referred to the tense personnel situation in the railway industry. “The acute shortage of personnel in the railway sector is leading to more than 4.5 million overtime hours and numerous delays for train drivers.”
Better working conditions and higher minimum wages
The first round of KV for the approximately 50,000 employees in the freight transport industry, 14 percent of whom are female, starts on November 11th. No fixed date has yet been set for private bus companies. “Only an improvement in working conditions in combination with an increase in minimum wages will ensure long-term labor needs,” said vida General Secretary Anna Daimler. “Thousands of drivers are still needed” for the desired mobility transition, including the expansion of public bus transport.
The collective bargaining negotiations for the approximately 150,000 employees in the retail and warehousing sector, 54 percent of whom are female, start on November 24th. In this industry too, employers would have to counteract the need for workers with “higher pay and better working conditions,” said vida’s deputy boss Janisch.
This article was last published on October 7th. updated at 1:23 p.m.
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