Collective bargaining in the social economy is entering the next round. The union is expecting concessions from the employers’ association, otherwise there is a risk of a strike: “It doesn’t take less from us, it needs more from us,” says the GPA chief negotiator.
The – so far unsuccessful – collective agreement negotiations in the social economy will enter their fifth round on Monday. They are accompanied by strike threats from employees, for which the union has taken a corresponding strike decision as a precautionary measure. Immediately before the start of negotiations, the employee side indicated that it might move away from the categorical demand for a four percent salary increase – but demanded that the employer side make concessions.
The number four is not set in stone, GPA chief negotiator Eva Scherz was quoted by the Ö1 “Morgenjournal”. The overall package is central. She continues to describe the previous offer from the employers’ association (Social Economy Austria) as “inadequate” before the start of negotiations planned for the morning.
“We don’t need less, we need more, we are missing colleagues everywhere and we simply expect that there will be a good package that will improve the working conditions and also improve the financial situation,” said the trade unionist to ORF radio. She expects accommodation from the employer and an offer on an equal footing.
The last offer from the Austrian social economy stipulated that collective bargaining wages and salaries would rise by 2.3 percent from April 1, 2026. For the full year 2026, this would correspond to an increase of 1.72 percent (since no increase would be planned for the first three months). The unions reject this offer as “inadequate”.
Austria’s social economy chief negotiator Yvonne Hochsteiner once again referred to the difficult external circumstances to ORF radio on Monday: The budgets, which are mostly financed by the federal, state and local governments, have been decided for 2026. “We have tried to have countless discussions with politicians, the federal government and the states, but have not achieved any improvement.”
Hochsteiner once again emphasized that she understood the union’s position and demands. However, there is no room for maneuver, she said, referring to the budgetary situation. “We know that we are asking a lot of the workers here, but we can only promise what we can actually finance. A movement by the workers is needed today.”
If the fifth round of collective bargaining negotiations does not reach a conclusion, “extensive strikes” will take place across Austria from January 28th to 30th, it was said after a works council conference in Graz. There was already a strike after the failure of the third round in December. “We had warning strikes in December regarding the measures. And the next step would be strikes that will be expanded,” said Scherz on Monday.
The collective bargaining negotiations for around 130,000 employees in the private health, social and nursing professions have been ongoing since October 1st. In addition to the four percent wage increase, the union always demanded various improvements to working conditions. (APA)
