Navigating Wage Negotiations in the Metal Industry: Unions and Employers at Odds

At midday, the workers publicly revealed their demands, with the employee chief negotiator proposing an agreement that fell below the 9.6 percent inflation rate observed over the past twelve months. Reinhold Binder, who had been previously excluded by the Pro-Ge union on Saturday, was compelled to make this decision as calls for a more restrained agreement grew louder, given the industry’s challenging circumstances.

Both chief negotiators on the union side, Karl Dürtscher (GPA) and Binder, stressed the need to compensate employees for the increasing cost of living, underscoring what they perceived as the government’s failure in addressing this issue. Alongside higher wages, they advocated for the possibility of introducing a sixth week of vacation and the option for employees to exchange increased income for additional free time, ruling out any consideration of a general reduction in working hours.

However, employers expressed a mild sense of surprise regarding the demands, as they had anticipated even higher expectations from the unions. Christian Knill, Chairman of FMTI, noted that while the wishes of the GPA and PRO-GE unions were substantial, they still exceeded what the current economic conditions could reasonably support. The metal industry, heavily impacted by the economic downturn and reliant on exports, faces tough competition from international counterparts due to its high wage agreements.

In previous years, the industry witnessed a 6.4 percent increase in wages, with a wage demand of 10.6 percent ultimately leading to a settled increase of 7.4 percent.