Working Time, Culture, Hungary, Austria

The vida and GPA private services unions have negotiated a new collective agreement covering the 7,000 employees in the regional associations of the Austrian Red Cross. All employees in the framework collective agreement will get a 9.15% increase while all employees in the new collective agreement section B and in the province of Vienna will get 9.2%. The increases are backdated to 1 January 2024. The collective agreement ensures that important provisions that previously differed from one province to another have now been successfully harmonised across the country, with a normal working week

The vida and GPA trade unions have initiated negotiations in the private health and social care sector with a demand for a 15% pay increase with a minimum of €400. The sector employs 130000 workers and the unions are calling for action to address the fact that pay is on average 22% below national average earnings. GPA and vida also argue that the public funding is there and that employers in the sector need to ensure they get the support from government to cover the pay rises and to ensure the sector is more attractive and help tackle staffing shortages. In addition to pay, the unions are also

The vida trade union and the Chamber of Doctors have begun negotiations with the church-based hospitals in the Carinthia region to update the collective agreement covering around 1600 workers. The first bargaining round took place on 2 August and negotiations will resume on 29 September. The agreement has not been properly updated for 30 years and the union is pushing for major revisions that will improve pay and conditions and make work in the sector more attractive. The union has set out over 40 areas of potential revision covering working time, leave arrangements, sabbaticals and training

After six months of negotiations, workers in church-run elderly care and nursing homes will get an 8% pay increase, along with a cost-of-living bonus of €1500 and a one-hour reduction in weekly working hours to 39 hours. The agreement covers around 3600 employees and the new monthly minimum wage will be set at €1850.76. The 8% increase translates into a 10.65% increase once the one-hour cut is taken into account. The vida trade union negotiated the agreement which it sees as bringing the church-based employer more in line with other collective agreements in the sector although it argues that

The younion trade union reports that a trade union-backed petition calling for better pay and conditions in healthcare has been blocked by a parliamentary committee. The citizens' initiative, supported by over 70,000 signatories, called for action on the major problems facing the sector, including a demand for more training and better pay for trainees, a national assessment of staffing needs and recognition of nursing as an arduous occupation. The parliamentary committee on petitions and citizens' initiatives decided no further action would be taken in response to the petition, despite the

The vida and GPA services unions have just launched their main demands in the “social economy” sector negotiations that cover 130,000 in private health and social care. The unions are calling for a pay increase that not only covers inflation (currently topping 9%), but also takes into account the hard work put in by employees over the past year. The unions also want to see more staff recruited and more free time, with the pandemic exposing the impact of staff shortages. They have a range of specific demands relating to overtime, job classifications and mileage allowances – all elements that

Childcare workers in the private sector who are covered by pay regulations rather than a collective agreement are getting a 3.2% pay increase following negotiations led by the GPA and vida trade unions. Meanwhile, full-time workers in private health and social care are now entitled to a 37-hour week as of 1 January. This was the result of earlier negotiations by the GPA and vida unions and reflects their long-running campaign to tackle overwork in the sectors. The unions are also determined to continue their efforts to reduce working time with a target of a 35-hour week.

The GPA private services union is calling for the adoption of a four-day week across its sectors and will raise this in the upcoming autumn bargaining round. Noting the success of the four-day week in Iceland and the establishment of the right to a four-day week in the retail sector in Austria, the GPA argues that the employers need to see the positive impact on productivity, while workers will get the benefit of better work-life balance. The union also underlines the potential for the four-day week to impact on climate change through its effect on commuting patterns.

The vida and GPA-djp private services unions have called on the government to take a national approach to regulations on childcare as institutions try to get to grips with rules on safety that vary across the country. The unions are concerned that proper measures are in place to protect workers and children but they have had reports of regional authorities applying different rules on face masks as well as recommending different staff:children ratios. In the meantime, the two unions are also pushing for a new collective agreement covering around 15000 health and care staff at the non-profit

EPSU has sent letters to the prime minister and leaders of political groups in parliament protesting at legislation that will remove public service status from over 20000 workers in libraries, museums, archives, culture centres, theatres and orchestras. This is a group of workers that is mainly low paid and whose pay has been frozen for over 10 years. The additional employment protection of public service status is one of their few main benefits. The government is using its emergency to push through the change at breakneck speed without the usual parliamentary process or consultation with

The vida and GPA-djp services unions have negotiated a pay and hours deal for 125000 workers in the private health and social care sector. Pay will increase by 2.7% this year backdated to 1 February and then by inflation plus 0.6% from 1 January 2021. The unions had been demanding a 35-hour week for all workers in the sector and this remains a target. The new agreement, however, does provide for a 37-hour week from 1 January 2022. With weekly pay staying the same for full-time workers this will mean a higher hourly rate and part-time workers will be compensated with an additional increase of 2

The vida and GPA-djp private services unions are planning further strike action and a national demonstration to keep up the pressure on health and social service employers to deliver on a 35-hour week. There have now been seven rounds of bargaining with the employers still failing to deliver an acceptable offer to the trade unions. The negotiations cover 125000 workers and vida and GPA-djp are calling for implementation of a 35-hour with no loss of pay and with appropriate increases in staffing. The national demonstration will take place on 10 March and next negotiations will be on 26 March.

The vida and GPA-djp private service unions will be coordinating further warning strikes on 26 and 27 February to put pressure on the employers in the negotiations covering 125000 workers in private health and social care. This follows the sixth round of bargaining which ended again without a concrete proposal from the employers. The unions are determined to press on with their central demand of a 35-hour week while maintaining pay and with an appropriate increase in staffing.