Austria - Unions unhappy with private health pay offer - December 21, 2010

On 16 December, 13 hours of negotiations over the agreement covering 80,000 workers in the private health and social services sector ended with no progress over the annual pay increase. The GPA-DJP and VIDA unions said the 1.3% offer from the employers was unacceptable, as it was below the trend of recent settlements and would mean a loss of purchasing power with inflation expected to reach 1.8%. They also said it was inadequate for a sector dominated by women where it was important to recognise the value of the work of such a vital service. Negotiations will resume on 12 January and the unions are planning actions in four cities on 26 January if there is no improved offer.

English: http://www.epsu.org/cob/393

German: http://www.gpa-djp.at/servlet/ContentServer?pagename …;  http://www.vida.at/servlet/ContentServer …

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 2011.