Bahn-KV: Railway workers will receive 4.1 percent more wages from December

In the 4th round of negotiations, the Railway Association in the Austrian Chamber of Commerce (WKÖ) and the Railway Department agreed to increase the KV and IST salaries by 4.1 percent for the approximately 55,000 employees of the Austrian railway companies from December 1, 2024 subject to agreement in the Vida union.

The valorizable additional remuneration is also adjusted by this percentage. In future, the income for technical apprenticeships will be 1,010 euros from the first year of apprenticeship. The rolling inflation underlying the negotiations is 3.5 percent. The term of the KV agreement is 12 months.

The two heads of the negotiations, Gerhard Tauchner, chairman of the vida railway department, and Thomas Scheiber, chairman of the railway association in the WKÖ, are satisfied with the agreement.

“With this result, we have taken another step towards each other today; the negotiating climate was constructive from the start on both sides. In the second year of recession in a row and the very difficult economic conditions for companies, this is a conclusion for which we have to stretch ourselves to the ceiling. I don’t shy away from saying that it’s above what we can afford in the current difficult economic situation. But we want to afford it, that is a strong sign of appreciation from the companies towards their employees,” affirms Scheiber.

“There are also improvements for employees in the KV framework law. In a side letter to the KV, it was agreed, among other things, that the framework conditions would be adapted to the operational challenges and needs,” continued vida trade unionist Tauchner. Topics such as night and weekend work, general working time regulations, allocation to salary tables, and industry-specific special regulations should be addressed. The working groups are expected to start in February 2025.

The union will present the collective bargaining agreement to the rail works councils for a vote at a conference in Vienna tomorrow. “It is fairly safe to assume that this wage increase will be accepted with broad support,” concluded Tauchner.