Austrian bakers settle

While negotiations for Austria’s larger collective agreements, such as those covering retail and metalworkers, seem blocked, PRO-GE, the union involved in the metalworking negotiations, has reached a new above-inflation increase for those working in the country’s bakeries. The deal, which runs for a year and is backdated to 1 October 2023, provides for a 9.71% increase in pay and other supplements. This is almost double inflation. The lowest rate is now €1,818.52 a month.

Swedish real wages fall

The latest figures from the Swedish National Mediation Office, which tracks changes in negotiated pay, estimate that pay will have risen by around 4.0% by the end of August this year, when the final figures are available. Only estimates are available at this stage, as the pay of many public sector employees is negotiated entirely at local level, and the results are not yet clear. Whatever the exact outcome, it seems clear that real wages have fallen, as inflation in August was 7.5%, although by October it had dropped to 6.5%.