Positive reaction to chemicals deal

Unions and employers in the Austrian chemical industry have agreed a pay deal which is more than two-and-a-half times the country’s current rate of inflation.

The 12-month agreement, which was signed on 10 May and is backdated to the start of the month, covers 40,000 employees. It provides for a 2.8% increase in the collectively agreed basic rates for the industry, and guarantees that pay levels at plant level – which are often above the industry rates – will rise by 2.6% or at least €42.50 a month. Annual inflation in Austria is currently 1.0% (March 2006).

Employers in the industry had been reluctant to negotiate a deal, prompting GdC chemical workers’ union president William Beck to comment: “Social partnership, which people are always praising, cannot consist of increasing attacks on collective agreements and attempts to widen the gap between rich and poor. Fortunately the employers’ side has now recognised that employees in the chemical industry have earned their share of company success”.