Tomorrow, Tuesday, collective bargaining negotiations will begin for the 54,000 employees in the cleaning industry. They mark the start of the autumn wage round, which this year is all about the service industry. The metal industry is saving itself from haggling this year because a two-year agreement was negotiated last year.
On Monday, the services union vida insisted on compensation for the rolling inflation of the past twelve months. In their view, this is currently above the forecast annual inflation (3.4 percent) at 4.6 percent. Depending on the start of the KV negotiations, the rolling inflation that serves as a basis for negotiations varies.
“With current starting wages around 2,000 euros gross per month, there is still a lot of catching up to do in some industries given the massive increase in living costs in the last two and a half years,” said vida chairman Roman Hebenstreit on Monday 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. “We’re talking about the low-wage sector. A large part of the income goes into consumption.” Hebenstreit also referred to the falling number of apprentices, especially in tourism. Before more foreign employees are brought into the country using the red-white-red card, the working conditions must be improved, emphasized the trade unionist .
Minimum salaries from 2,000 euros gross
The collectively agreed full-time minimum salaries in the transport and services sector currently amount to 2,000 gross per month (around 1,600 euros net). Cleaning industrybetween 1,923 and 2,591 euros gross in the Railway industry2,025 euros gross for Trade workers2,043 euros gross in the Transportation of goods and 2,174 euros or 2,773 euros gross (drivers). private bus companies.
Acute staff shortage in the transport sector
There is an acute shortage of personnel in the sectors mentioned, especially among railway workers (train attendants, dispatchers, shifters) as well as bus and truck drivers. “The shortage of staff is now becoming increasingly noticeable among train drivers through delays and train cancellations,” reports Gerhard TauchnerChairman of the Railway Department at vida. There is currently a shortage of 1,200 full-time employees and another 10,000 will retire in the next few years. This currently leads to 4.5 million overtime hours and more than 400,000 remaining vacation days.
There is also an “incredible amount of overtime” among bus and truck drivers, complains vida’s general secretary Anna Daimler. The big issue is generational change. 30 percent of bus drivers are over 55 years old. When it comes to truck drivers, the main aim is to make the profession more attractive for newcomers. Simply putting the profession on the list of shortage occupations in order to get cheap workers from third countries while unemployment in Austria is rising is “completely unacceptable,” said Daimler.