Austria - Substantial pay rise in metalworking and mining - November 15, 2010

On 6 November, the PRO-GE union signed a new collective agreement, covering about 165,000 workers in the metalworking and mining industry and resulting in substantial pay increases. This result was reached in the third round after a 17-hour marathon negotiation, and was achieved due to pressure on the employers' side after nationwide works council conferences and some 400 staff meetings. The agreement includes an increase in minimum wages by 2.5%; an increase in effectively paid wages by 2.3% with a minimum pay rise of € 45 (resulting in lower wage groups gaining increases up to 3%), and a new collectively agreed gross minimum wage of € 1,515.84. The new agreement takes effect from November 1, 2010 and the deadline for renewal is 12 months.

English: http://www.eucoban.eu/EMF/Reports/Conclusion-of-bargaining-round …

German: http://www.proge.at/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=P01/Page …

This article was published in the Collective Bargaining Newsletter. It aims to facilitate information exchange between trade unions and to support the work of ETUC's collective bargaining committee. For more information, please contact the editor Maarten van Klaveren, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) M.vanKlaveren@uva.nl. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net. © ETUI aisbl, Brussels 2010.