Fight for higher salaries: Financial sector employees defend themselves!

Fight for higher salaries: Financial sector employees defend themselves!

After long and intensive negotiations between the GPA union and the representatives of the credit industry, a significant breakthrough was achieved: from April 1, 2025, the minimum salaries in the financial sector increase by three percent. This affects around 68,000 employees and represents a more than adequate compensation for the forecast inflation of 2.9 percent for 2024, as kosmo.at reports. In addition, the minimum contribution to company pension scheme was increased by 0.15 percentage points. The banking association described the agreement as "just justifiable compromise from an employer perspective". Although the increase in salary is gratifying, the question remains whether this is sufficient, in view of the excellent economic situation in the industry.

In the second round of negotiations on March 11, 2025, however, there was no official proposal for employers, which led to massive protests. The employees are calling for a salary increase of four percent, oriented towards inflation and the records of the banks, which generated a total of 10.7 billion euros in 2024. These figures illustrate the discrepancy between the strong profits of the financial institutions and the modest offer of employers, such as gpa.at emphasized. The union has already announced company meetings for the period from March 20 to 25, 2025 to increase the pressure on employers and to advance their demands for fair working conditions and a fairer remuneration. If there is no further agreement in the upcoming round of negotiations on March 18, renewed measures are planned.

The pressure increases

The upcoming round of negotiation will be decisive because the mood among the employees is tense. The advance to increase the pension fund contributions, in particular with regard to the fair conditions for women, and the demand for a work -free last working day a year are other topics that must not be forgotten in the negotiations. The union has clearly signaled: the employees cannot be fed with a minimum offer - their contribution to the economy must also be reflected in a fair collective agreement. Together we are committed to our rights!