Austria: trade employers want “individual” labor at the center of collective bargaining

October 24 will be the start of the renegotiation process for the collective agreements in the trade industry, which employs 570,000 people - the biggest collective negotiations in Austria. Bettina Lorentschitsch, in charge of bargaining for employers, already showed her hand: she wants working time on Saturday to be more flexible and the possibility of paying for days off that were not taken. The GPA-djp union won't even listen and is waiting to hear employers' pay offer. Besides, an entrepreneur is trying, after failing at the Federal Constitutional Court, to extend Sunday opening hours via a referendum on the "Opening Hours Act." (Ref. 120585)
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Complete disagreement between the social partners. “The trade industry is changing and we need individual answers” Bettina Lorentschitsch explained at a press conference on Wednesday, October 3 in Vienna. Lorentschitsch, who will be in charge of bargaining for the collective agreements covering 570,000 employees, believes that the regulation governing work on Saturday, which states that only two Saturdays a month can be worked, must be canceled. She also wants employers to be able to...

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