Austria: metalworkers’ unions accept partial questioning of 40 years of unitary collective bargaining

Negotiate fast to negotiate more.  “Until now, unions have been doing their best to maintain joint collective negotiations with the six employers’ organizations.  We’re sad we still have not reached an understanding about this.  Therefore, unions are going to carry out individual negotiations with each federation, yet still with a view to reaching a unitary collective agreement” union negotiators Rainer Wimmer (PRO.GE) and Karl Proyer (GPA-djp) announced on Tuesday.  In early September, the unions seemed looked determined not to let this point go.  Thus they didn’t answer the invitation by the FMMI, the key metal employers’ organization (116,000 employees) to open talks on September 10.  Unions are blaming this federation in particular for trying to break the unity of collective negotiations and use this division to generate a long-term movement of slower wage increases (see our dispatch No.  120272).  Unions most probably changed their mind because of recent economic forecasts showing that, although the sector has been doing well, an economic slowdown and uncertain prospects are in the offing for 2013.  Unions therefore need to negotiate quickly because the more time goes by, the harder it gets to secure a high wage increase.  Besides, Wimmer and Proyer said, “We think we’ll get an honorable agreement quickly.”