Retail wage talks begin with inflation gap in focus

Negotiations on 2027 pay for more than 430,000 retail employees across Austria began on Thursday, with both sides signalling they are open to compromise, ORF reported. About 110,000 of the workers are in Upper Austria.

Retail employees received a 2.55 percent pay increase last year, almost one percentage point below inflation. Wolfgang Gerstmayer, managing director of the Private Sector Employees’ Union in Upper Austria, said the union would seek a higher increase this year to compensate for the rising cost of living.

Martin Sonntag, head of the retail division at the Upper Austrian Chamber of Commerce, said retailers were facing a difficult economic situation, with sales hovering around zero growth.

Four rounds of negotiations have been scheduled so far. Sonntag said talks could cover working hours, supplements or one-off payments. Gerstmayer said the union was open to creative solutions, but the outcome would depend on the negotiations.

The current rolling inflation rate is between 3.2 and 3.3 percent. Whether this year’s pay settlement will be above or below that level has yet to be decided.