First Austrian pay settlements of the year

Some 170,000 employees in the metal and energy industries will receive a 1.5% increase on basic rates, backdated to 1 November, in the first deals of Austria’s annual pay round. The actual pay rates, which are higher, will go up by 1.45%. The agreement was signed on 16 November. On 27 November, agreement was reached for the 520,000 employees in retail and wholesale. They will get at least a 1.5% increase from 1 January 2010 and with the minimum increase of €22 a month, most will get at least 1.6% more.

Both settlements are well above the inflation rate, currently 0.3% (October).

The euro was worth 91p on 3 December 2009.