Civil Servant Salaries: According to Stocker, Zero Pay Rounds Threaten Without Talks
As is well known, the federal government wants to reopen the salary agreement in the public sector. However, it is unclear whether the union will actually enter into talks. "The question is whether negotiations are even possible, that has not been decided," said Federal Chancellor Christian Stocker (ÖVP) in the Ö1-Journal on Saturday. However, if no talks take place, zero wage rounds in 2027 and 2028 are the negotiation position.
Just on Friday, unionists sharply criticized the federal government's plans, including Martin Ulrich, chairman of the federal representation of judges and prosecutors in the GÖD. Stocker wants to "wait and see if there are any talks at all" for the time being. He described the agreement to fully adjust pensions up to 2,500 euros to inflation as a "compromise," for which the federal government also received criticism from the ÖVP senior representatives. He did not go into further detail on the new social assistance, merely naming Upper and Lower Austria as a model and speaking of a standardization where one must "orient downwards."
"Budget Execution is on Track"
He was reassuring about the budget. "The federal execution is fully on track," said Stocker. In response to the municipalities' demand to increase the property tax, the chancellor stated that this is not part of the government program. This would bring in around 380 to 400 million euros: "The rehabilitation of municipal finances will not be achieved with this," said Stocker. Furthermore, the stability pact still needs to be negotiated. He currently sees "no reason" for the abolition of the diesel privilege.
Stocker Justifies Taliban Visit
As several ÖVP party colleagues had done before, Stocker justified the visit of a Taliban delegation, which paid a visit to the Ministry of the Interior last week. "It's not that we approve of the regime because we want to deport there," said Stocker. He boasted that Austria is a pioneer in deportations to Syria. On average, 35 people are deported per day "partly voluntarily, partly involuntarily" (Not only to Syria, note). About half of the involuntary ones have become criminal. Talks with the Taliban will continue on a technical level in any case.
FPÖ Sees "Excuse Chancellor"
Criticism unsurprisingly rained down from the Freedom Party after the interview. "Stocker is emblematic of the entire failure of his government: He is not a chancellor for the Austrians, but a chancellor of excuses, irresponsibility, and EU dictates. With each day he remains in office, the burden on our population grows - from the asylum crisis to inflation, pension cuts to the endangerment of security," said Secretary General Michael Schnedlitz in a statement.
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.