Kick-off for Collective Agreement Negotiations in Trade

The collective bargaining negotiations for the approximately 430,000 retail employees and 20,000 apprentices start on Thursday at noon at the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKÖ) in Vienna. At the outset, the employee and employer representatives will present their positions. The GPA union demanded in advance a salary increase above the inflation rate of the past twelve months by 3 percent. The WKÖ wants to negotiate "in an unexcited manner" to preserve jobs and businesses.

Unpacking the Trade Collective Agreement

Due to high inflation, the trade collective agreement, which was actually concluded for two years, must be reopened. The social partners agreed last year that if the inflation rate is 3 percent or more in the period from October 2024 to September 2025, the collective agreement increase for 2026 must be renegotiated. Depending on the inflation development, the collective agreement salary increase for retail employees for next year would have been between 2.8 and 2.9 percent.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.