According to the GPA, this is a staggered increase between 8.3 and 9.2 percent. Apprentice incomes therefore increase by 10 percent.
According to the information, the apprentices’ income will be increased to 880 euros in the first year of training, to 1,130 euros in the second year of training and to 1,430 euros in the third year of training. With the qualification, the minimum salary for young professionals also improves – from the current 1,945 to 2,124 euros gross. Rainer Trefelik, chairman of the federal trade division in the Austrian Chamber of Commerce (WKÖ) and chief negotiator for the employers’ side, spoke of an “upgrading” of teaching in domestic trade. The increase represents an “important investment in the future of retail,” he emphasized in a press release.
Video: Agreement on trade
“It was important for us that we achieve a permanently effective salary agreement for everyone. It is also important that we got the one-off payment proposed by the employers off the table. In perspective, this would have been a huge loss for the employees,” said the chief negotiator GPA, Helga Fichtinger, quoted in a broadcast. To her regret, employers are not yet willing to talk about elements of reducing working hours. “That would have been a real milestone for the industry and would have significantly increased its attractiveness.”
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Trefelik, in turn, described the agreement as a “difficult compromise” in an interview with the APA. Although he is pleased with the agreement, he does not feel like celebrating given the continued difficult conditions for companies. In any case, he believes it is important that there was no two-year financial statement because that would have limited the industry’s scope for action in the future. “The situation in retail is so volatile that we should evaluate it individually every year.”
The employer representative also emphasized that the agreement was 0.8 percent below rolling inflation – according to him, for the first time in the history of the collective trade agreement. Due to the economic circumstances, full compensation was not possible from the company’s perspective, said Trefelik. Rolling inflation was 9.2 percent from October 2022 to September 2023.
Trade association warns against excessive demands
The trade association meanwhile warned that companies would be overwhelmed by the salary increases, which will take effect on January 1, 2024. The “historically highest commercial KV agreement” will compensate for inflation for employees. However, every euro more will have to be earned in personnel costs in the companies so that the employment structure can be maintained, said trade association managing director Rainer Will in a statement.
The struggle for a new KV lasted for many weeks this year and was accompanied by company meetings, public rallies and warning strikes during the Christmas business. After the sixth round of negotiations, which surprisingly ended without compromise, an agreement this year seemed a long way off. In the end, the two sides came together for another round of talks before the turn of the year in order to prevent something new – a conclusion not being reached until the new year.
The union entered the negotiations demanding an 11 percent increase in wages. The employers only made their opening offer in the third round with a plus of 5 percent and a one-off payment of 800 euros.
The Handels-KV is about the salaries of 430,000 employees and apprentices. It is the largest industry collective agreement in Austria. Almost two thirds of the 430,000 employees are women; in retail the proportion of women is even higher. Around 60 percent of women in retail work part-time, while the part-time rate for men is only around 13 percent.
