The seventh round of negotiations for a new collective agreement in the chemical industry started on Monday.
In order to put pressure on the negotiations, warning strikes lasting one to two hours were held in around 50 companies in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Boehringer Ingelheim, Borealis, Lenzing, Novartis, Sandoz, Semperit and Takeda were among those affected.
Wages and salaries increase by 6.33 percent
In the evening, an agreement was finally reached: wages and salaries in the chemical industry will increase by 6.33 percentbut by a maximum of 316.50 euros – this is what the employers’ and union representatives have agreed on. The actual and minimum wages will be increased by the same amount.
Apprentices’ wages will also increase by 6.33 percent. The new collective agreement will apply from May 1, 2024 and will run for 12 months.
The unions PRO-GE and GPA had insisted on a wage and salary increase for the approximately 50,000 chemical industry employees in the amount of the rolling inflation of 6.33 percent and on a capped payment for high earners – this has now been agreed upon.
“Against the backdrop of ongoing uncertainty, the search for a common solution was particularly challenging this year,” said employer negotiator Berthold Stöger, according to the statement. It is all the more important that we were able to reach an agreement after intensive and constructive negotiations with the employee representatives. We now have a collective agreement that, with an average impact of 5.54 percent, is just about economically viable for the companies in the industry and, thanks to the social scaling, means that employees continue to receive fair pay.”
6.5 percent in the glass industry
The approximately 240 member companies of the Austrian Chemical Industry (FCIO) employ almost 50,000 people.
The collective bargaining negotiations in the domestic glass industry had already been concluded in advance. There, the social partners agreed on an increase in the collectively agreed minimum wages and salaries by 6.5 percent.