On June 20, the management of the Austrian railway company (ÖBB) and the Vida services and transportation union signed a framework agreement reducing the workweek in the rail industry. Working time will go from 40 down to 38.5 hours a week but wages will remain the same, thus replacing the 3.5 percent increase negotiated in 2012 and planned for July 1, 2013. At first, the agreement will cover the ÖBB’s 32,000 workers. The company is overstaffed so this is a way to save money while ensuring a better division of the workload over all the employees. Unions view this reduction as an improvement of the protection of health and safety for employees, as the average worker is getting older. The sector’s federation blocked the agreement’s provisions for a long time but they will now be used in the private sector via company agreements. With them, working time in the rail industry is going to be closer to the average in other sectors. (Ref. 130436)
The agreement defended by Vida and the ÖBB takes the private sector’s reluctance into consideration. The Vida union, the ÖBB and the rail employers’ organizations negotiated for a year before reaching an agreement, but employers blocked it for a long time. In fact, the history of this agreement on working time goes back to 2012.
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