This year’s collective bargaining negotiations for the 572,000 retail employees will start next Wednesday, September 23rd. The GPA union is demanding a deal above the rolling inflation rate of 3.8 percent, emphasize their chief negotiators Veronika Arnost and Martin Müllauer. An exact percentage will be announced at the start of negotiations, which will not only be about more wages and salaries, but also about the framework law, for example additional vacation days.
Sunday work and one-off payments are not an issue because these are not sustainable. The aim is to ensure that incomes are noticeably and permanently increased. “Every tenth also benefits retailers,” reminds Arnost that the employees are also consumers – and therefore strengthening purchasing power is in the interest of the entire economy. An important point in this year’s KV discussions is the payment of the first one and a half hours of overtime per day, because this overtime has so far been free of surcharge, which would particularly be felt by part-time employees.
35.5 percent work part-time
And there are many of them in stores. 35.5 percent of employees work for less than the standard working hours, and for women the figure is as high as 55.2 percent. Just like retail is female, 63.3 percent of employees are women.
In any case, the GPA chief negotiators are preparing for very difficult talks; last year there was only a conclusion after Christmas. Arnost and Müllauer emphasized to journalists that high commercial contracts were not price drivers, and were certainly not responsible for bankruptcies in the industry. And ultimately it would also be about making the industry more attractive for employees.
No two-year degree planned
One point of this is an increase in the apprentice’s salary from currently 880 to 1,000 euros in the first year of training. Another more free time, so from five years of service there should be three days off, from seven years of service another two days and from ten years an additional day off.
Arnost and Müllauer did not hide the fact that the current difficult economic situation has not stopped trading, but the companies’ equity structure is good and stable. And personnel expenses, measured in relation to operating performance, have remained constant at around 11.5 percent over the years. The GPA rejects different levels of qualifications in individual areas of trade. And a two-year deal, like the one the metal workers agreed to last year, is also out of the question for trading due to its other requirements.
There are also other signs regarding the level of unionization in the metal industry and in retail. Exact membership numbers are not mentioned, but while they are traditionally high in the industry, in retail this only applies to the large grocery chains. According to Arnost, there has been a “great increase in membership” in recent years.
Metaller: increase of 4.8 percent
Even if the metal workers are not negotiating this year, they will overshadow today’s Friday – because at lunchtime employers and employees in the metal technology industry will jointly announce how high the wage and salary increase will be for the collective agreement in 2025. What was determined was rolling inflation, i.e. the price increase in the past twelve months, and an additional one percent. With inflation of 3.8 percent, that means an increase of 4.8 percent.
For metal companies that are in a very bad situation, there is the possibility of being paid a little less. Employee representatives in retail reject such a regulation, simply because many small companies do not report any balance sheet at all. It is therefore impossible to check how they are doing economically.
After last year’s collective bargaining negotiations in retail took an unusually long time and were also accompanied by workers’ struggles, the social partners have already set four negotiation dates for this year as a precaution, the last of which would be November 21st – which would mean that the Christmas business could run undisturbed if an agreement was reached.
