Social economy: 130,000 employees strike for higher wages!

Social economy: 130,000 employees strike for higher wages!

From Tuesday, December 1, 2025, warning strikes will begin in the social economy across Austria, in which around 130,000 employees in the private health, social and nursing professions will take part. The employees are demanding a wage increase of four percent, while the employers point to external circumstances that make it difficult to meet these demands. These strikes were announced after stalled collective bargaining negotiations in the third round, which ended without agreement.

Those affected will stop work for one to three hours in numerous facilities at over 120 locations. The strikes will take place in all federal states except Vienna from Tuesday, with the action in Vienna starting a day later. The private employees' union (GPA) has already announced further strike decisions and has declared its willingness to support the employees.

Planned actions and impacts

On Thursday, the union is planning a larger final action in the Ignaz Kuranda Park in Vienna, where the employees want to form a “crowd of lights” to let the employers see the light. A GPA spokesman has assured that clients and relatives have nothing to worry about, but the strikes will have a noticeable impact on employers. Possible effects include cancellations of trips for seniors and closures in customer traffic in special areas such as addiction counseling.

The salary increase is urgently required to compensate for the real wage losses of recent years. The employer side has submitted an offer that provides for average wage increases of just 1.71 percent for collective agreement salaries and 1.3 percent for actual salaries for 2026. Uniform increases of 1.65 percent would be planned for 2027. However, the unions reject this offer as inadequate.

Background to the strikes

The chairman of the Austrian Social Economy, Erich Fenninger, highlighted the dependence on the public sector and expressed skepticism about a possible conclusion before Christmas. According to him, major wage increases could not be achieved without sufficient public funding. The current situation shows that collective bargaining negotiations are complex and difficult, which has contributed to the upcoming protests.

The next round of negotiations is scheduled for December 11th. The GPA and vida unions expect employers to make a “fair offer” in order to meet demands for fairer wages. Collective bargaining is of great importance for the entire industry as it forms the basis for the working environment and the remuneration of thousands of employees.

Overall, the upcoming strikes demonstrate the determination of social economy employees to fight for their rights and fair pay. The coming days will be crucial in influencing the course of this dispute.

For further information on the strikes in the social economy, visit Vienna.at, Die Presse and Mein District.