The sixth round of negotiations for a new collective agreement has already been canceled: higher employer offer rejected – chief negotiator Stöger warns of deindustrialization
Vienna (OTS) – Berthold Stöger has “no understanding at all” for the still exaggerated demands of the employee representatives in the negotiations on a new collective agreement for the chemical industry. Stöger is employer negotiator in the Austrian Chemical Industry Association (FCIO). “Someone refuses to recognize the signs of the times and think about the future of the industry”
said the business representative. “The union needs more understanding of the dramatically poor economic situation in our industry.”
He appeals to the employee representatives: “Finally understand what is at stake. Further cost disadvantages in international competition fuel deindustrialization, i.e. the migration of manufacturing companies from Austria. And once you leave, you usually don’t come back.”
Excessive wage and salary demands with reference to compensating for the exceptionally high inflation should not be automatic. “We can only distribute what was previously earned in the companies – and strikes won’t change that.”
reminds Berthold Stöger.
It is therefore incomprehensible that the unions also rejected a new, higher offer from business in the most recent, sixth round. Employers have increased their offer of a socially graded qualification to 6.0% for incomes up to €4,000. Incomes above that, which are affected by inflation to a much lesser extent, would receive a slightly lower percentage increase. For decades, the chemical industry has been one of the employers with the best-paying jobs for its approximately 50,000 employees and is one of the front runners when it comes to bonuses and allowances. The chemistry degrees of the past two years alone have brought employees a total increase of 15.3 percent.
“Return to the negotiating table,” Stöger once again calls on the other side: “We want to negotiate constructively and in a solution-oriented manner. Our doors are open.” There is a new date for this, namely June 17, 2024.
About the FCIO:
The Austrian Chemical Industry Association (FCIO) is the legal representation of the interests of the chemical industry in Austria. The approximately 240 member companies produce pharmaceuticals, plastics and plastic products, fibers, paints, fertilizers and organic and inorganic chemicals in various sectors. The industry’s almost 50,000 employees produced goods worth over 20.8 billion euros in 2022. The FCIO is committed to an economically, ecologically and socially sustainable and attractive chemical location in Austria with a research and technology-friendly environment in which the chemical industry can use its innovative strength to develop and deliver solutions to key social challenges. www.fcio.at
Questions & Contact:
FCIO Association of the Austrian Chemical Industry
Dorothea Pritz
+43(0)5 90 900-3364
pritz@fcio.at
www.fcio.at