First Round of Negotiations for Trade Collective Agreement Without Agreement

The next round will take place on November 13. "No offer was presented by the employers," said the GPA union after seven hours of haggling. Next week, the works councils will be informed about the current status.

"We will not accept that the performance of retail employees is denied while they still have to cope with the high costs of everyday life," emphasized chief negotiator and GPA federal manager Mario Ferrari. GPA colleague Martin Müllauer warned the employers: "If there is still no willingness to compromise from the employers, we are ready to take further measures."

Rainer Trefelik, chairman of the federal trade division, was conciliatory after today's meeting. "The atmosphere of the talks was very constructive in the proven manner of social partnership, and the employee representatives showed considerable understanding for our arguments. However, not everyone is aware that the five-year-long crisis is not yet over and that this fact must have consequences for the wage negotiations," he said. Possible adjustments in the framework law would now be calculated before the next meeting.

The private interest group Handelsverband supported: "The employer side has already promised a moderate, realistic, and fair collective agreement increase in the first round of negotiations." This would be "at the absolute upper limit," said managing director Rainer Will.

The collective agreement negotiations concern 430,000 retail employees and 20,000 apprentices. The GPA union demanded a salary increase above the inflation rate of the past twelve months by three percent.

Two-Year Collective Agreement Had to Be Reopened

Due to high inflation, the collective bargaining agreement for trade, originally concluded for two years, has to 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.

Following the trade collective agreement conclusions for 2024 and 2025 under rolling inflation, the union is pushing for 2026 to "contribute to securing purchasing power" for trade employees. For 2025, the union and the Chamber of Commerce agreed on a collective agreement increase of 3.3 percent with a rolling inflation of 3.8 percent.

Further Demands Besides Salary Increase

The union also demands a right to increase working hours if overtime is regularly performed and a 50 percent surcharge regulation from the first hour of overtime. Another demand is additional permanent days off, with one day off after five years of service with an employer, two days after ten years, and three days after 15 years. WKÖ trade chairman Rainer Trefelik is willing to discuss framework law demands. However, the percentage of the salary increase will "be the focus of the negotiations," he said on Thursday before the start of negotiations.

(APA/Red)

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