According to Katzian, collective negotiations are still ongoing in some sectors, in breweries and in the private bus sector. However, he is very pleased with the results so far. Despite “difficulties and arguments”, the results are good in times of high inflation. The all-day railway strike in December, exceptionally strong for Austrian conditions, was also a necessary pressure measure: “We are not known to be the strikers”, explained the main trade unionist – the result was not possible through negotiations to the time being.
After the fall salary round, now will be the time to take stock in the spring. The focus is also on the demand for a gross minimum wage of 2,000 euros for all sectors. “If it is not possible to negotiate, we will study measures and actions”, says Katzian. Differences are currently large, there are sectors in which the lowest wages are well above this limit, and some are even below it. In trade, the target has not yet been achieved in the last round of negotiations, where the minimum wage is still around 1,945 euros.
demand for a minimum wage
Confirmed price limit demand
Asked about his demand for a rental price cap, Katzian explained that he was “bummed out” that price caps were dismissed as a “watering can solution”. “The same discussion” would also have taken place with the ÖGB’s demand for a VAT reduction on everyday groceries. Weekly purchases were 14% more expensive. Nor can one pretend that “only the poorest of the poor are affected by inflation”.
TV library
The “press hour” to research
The fact that the European Central Bank (ECB) has again raised the benchmark interest rate to 2.5% also means that many borrowers will have problems with repayment: “Let’s have fun there”.
While Katzian welcomed the electricity price cap, he called for the same for all forms of heating – gas, pellets, oil, etc. – and also electricity price measures for heat pumps. “People are slowly going crazy” in the face of “immorally high” gas regulations or huge electricity costs because they switched to heat pumps – to “save the world” – warned the union boss. “We have to invent something” and not just for vulnerable groups.
Better working conditions against the shortage of skilled workers
Katzian sees companies as having a duty to provide better working conditions in response to the widespread shortage of skilled workers. It’s not always just about wages – “good working conditions aren’t always about money”, he explained: shift schedules, working hours and similar factors are also important.
Economic forecast and labor shortage
Furthermore, the shortage of skilled workers is self-produced: some professions have been on the shortlist of occupations for years and have not yet been tackled by a training offensive. “That’s why I suggest more people need to be retrained,” says Katzian. The successful model of training in dual learning, which other countries – such as the US – would take as a model, must be strengthened. The number of young people educated in this way has been falling for years, and a reversal of the trend is needed here.
Katzian also spoke out in favor of giving young asylum seekers who have a good chance of staying in the country access to the job market and internships. On the subject of asylum, she explained that, according to the Refugee Convention, asylum is “non-negotiable”. But a common European approach is needed – and obviously “a new beginning”. It is conceivable for him to process asylum claims at the EU’s external border.
Katzian is running for re-election in June
Katzian, 66, who has been president of the ÖGB since 2018, will be re-elected in June. “As long as I have the feeling that a fire is burning” and have the passion “that I want to achieve something”, he is available for the job – “if my body and family allow it. I have positive signs from both.”
Asked how long he thinks the government will last, Katzian explained that he believes the turquoise-green coalition will last until 2024. SPÖ leader Pamela Rendi-Wagner has his full support and is also the main candidate for the next election of the National Council.
Shortage of skilled workers: IV agrees with Katzian
“The shortage of labor and skilled labor now affects all sectors and companies in all sectors, and we are dealing with a structural problem, because in the coming years there will be a shortage of about 540,000 labor and labor – that is, approximately the population of the state of Salzburg”, said Georg Knill, President of the Federation of Industrialists (IV). “It is gratifying that the ÖGB has also recognized that there is a great need for action in this area”, said the IV President “Increasing the potential of workers and skilled workers must be addressed quickly.”
SPÖ supports Katzian demands
The SPÖ announced in a broadcast that it supports Katzian’s demands in the fight against inflation and rising prices. “Instead of one-off payments that disappear quickly, the government must finally implement effective price-cutting measures to fight inflation. Like the chairman of the ÖGB, the SPÖ is also demanding a cap on the price of petrol, a reduction in VAT on food and a cap on rent.” Chancellor Karl Nehammer and Finance Minister Magnus Brunner (both ÖVP) should finally become active and no longer ignore the fact that more and more people, “deep in the working middle class,” said SPÖ Federal Manager Christian Deutsch.
FPÖ criticizes demands
The rejection of Katzian’s statements came from the FPÖ – on the labor market access point for asylum seekers. The ÖGB president was “completely in agreement with the anti-Austrian and anti-official advances of the ÖVP and the SPÖ”, said club deputy head Dagmar Belakowitsch. The FPÖ rejects the admission of asylum seekers because wage dumping could “encourage” and act as an “additional magnet” for illegal immigrants.