KV negotiations in the social economy: Negotiations enter third round as planned | AUSTRIA SOCIAL ECONOMY – Austrian Social Association

Today, Monday, November 11, 2024, the second round of negotiations on the social economy general agreement (SWÖ-KV) took place between the Austrian Social Economy (SWÖ) and the unions. Employers were still faced with an extensive catalog of demands, but agreements were reached on some meaningful points. For SWÖ managing director and negotiator Yvonne Hochsteiner, the current offer from employers is already “attractive” compared to the industry. ****

“We offer inflation for the twelve months affected from the start. We are doing this even though it is not yet clear whether the funding agencies will go along with this because the economic downturn will force them to make significant savings. “But we hope that the social sector will not be affected so that services can be offered to people in Austria according to their needs,” explained Hochsteiner. The continuous inflation for the period November 2023 to October 2024 would including the current flash estimate for October 2024 at 3.53 percent currently.

For Hochsteiner there would be “almost freedom”: “We are willing to speak at certain times, but everything must remain within a reasonable framework. We need to approach all additional non-monetary measures with a sense of proportion and offset them financially.”

Care allowance must be “fixed”.

When it comes to the issue of care subsidies, however, for SWÖ president Erich Fenninger, the sides of the employees and the employer are united in their interests: “We urgently need to fix the financing of the wage increase subsidy law special purpose (EEZG), because many workers do not currently receive this care subsidy, although their activity would justify this.”

This is particularly relevant to the disabled sector, because according to the available data, almost half of the workers do not receive the care subsidy. Fenninger: “We want to fix this unequal treatment in the collective agreement, but the funding has to be available for this as well.”

The third and final round of negotiations on the general agreement of the social economy will take place on November 25, 2024. “We aim to reach a fair decision in the third round of negotiations until an agreement is reached general SWÖ will be in place in time for January 1, 2025 and that the employees will receive inflation compensation,” concluded Hochsteiner. (finger)