Spring KV: Negotiations in chemistry and electro without a solution!

Spring KV: Negotiations in chemistry and electro without a solution!

Vienna, Österreich - On April 10, 2025, the second spring collective contract negotiations in the chemical and electrical industry ended without result. According to vienna.at , both specialist associations described the conversations as constructive, but no specific wage and salary claims were published. The negotiations are to be continued on April 23 for the chemical industry and on April 30 for the electrical industry.

The unions Pro-Gre and GPA made it clear that there should be no zero-wage round. In the electrical industry, the relevant inflation rate is 2.75 percent, which makes negotiations even more difficult. In the event of a lack of agreement in the third round of negotiations, the employee representatives plan an Austria -wide conference of works councils.

Current challenges and demands

The specialist association of the electrical and electronics industry (Feei) pointed out the high costs of the factor in Austria. Feei chairman Wolfgang Hesoun emphasized that companies were no longer competitive and that increased personnel costs often could not be passed on to customers. The chemical industry also faces high energy and personnel costs.

Ernst Gruber, negotiating director of the specialist association of the Chemical Industry in Austria (FCIO), explained the need for a sense of proportion and responsibility in the negotiations. In addition to wage increases, it is also about framework conditions such as vacation days and overtime characters. In a conference for the works councils of the chemical industry, the unions Pro-GE and GPA want to provide further information.

• demands of the unions for the electrical industry:
  • Increase in shift allowances: 1.50 euros per hour for the second layer
  • five euros per hour for the third layer
  • facilitating the sixth vacation week
  • Continuation of the leisure option

economic framework conditions

The economic framework is also strong. The pro-GE reports that the inflation is on average from March 2024 to February 2025 at 2.8 percent. Collective contract negotiations in other industrial sectors also begin. For example, the first negotiation for employees of paper and cardboard-producing industry started on March 19, followed by the negotiations for around 60,000 employees of the electrical and electronics industry on March 21st.

The European Commission recently found in its report on the labor market that there is “scope for further wage increases”, especially in the service sector. Studies from the British magazine for work relationships show that employees with a collective agreement generally receive higher wages, which could also be important for the current round of negotiations. This is supported by uni-uropa.org is.