"Is a compromise"
Agreement reached on retail collective agreement in third round
On Monday afternoon, the trade union and the Chamber of Commerce agreed on a new collective wage agreement for the retail sector at the third attempt. Minimum salaries in the sector will rise by 2.55 percent.
In the second round of negotiations in mid-November, the employers had offered a salary increase of 2.25 percent. An increase of 2.9 percent was conceivable for the employee representatives. The annual inflation rate on which the negotiations are based is three percent. After the second round, the union also held works meetings throughout Germany - now they met roughly in the middle.
"No one-off payments"
Minimum salaries in the sector will increase by 2.55 percent from January 1, 2026, rounded to the nearest full euro. "It was particularly important to us that the agreement does not contain any one-off payments, thus ensuring a permanently effective salary increase for all employees," said Martin Müllauer, Chairman of the Trade Division of the GPA trade union and Chairman of the Works Council.
Mario Ferrari, chief negotiator of the GPA, spoke of a "compromise in view of the economic situation".
What else was agreed
It was also decided to increase the apprenticeship completion bonus to 250 euros for excellent success and 200 euros for good success. "This is an important signal to young people and the skilled workers of tomorrow," said Rainer Trefelik, Chief Negotiator of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber.
There are also changes to working conditions. For example, the collective agreement stipulates that the standard weekly working hours can be spread over five days - by means of a company agreement. "This is a key step towards more predictability and better compatibility for almost half a million employees," said Müllauer. According to the Chamber of Commerce, working hours on Saturdays have also been made more flexible. Previously, a Saturday worked always had to be followed by a Saturday off. In future, this can be deviated from "at the request of the employee with the consent of the works council".
CLA had to be tightened due to inflation
Due to high inflation, the retail collective agreement, which was originally concluded for two years, had to be revised. The social partners had agreed in the previous year that the collective agreement increase for 2026 would have to be renegotiated in the event of an inflation rate of three percent or more in the period from October 2024 to September 2025.
The collective agreement applies to around 430,000 retail employees and 20,000 apprentices. The Austrian Retail Association (HV), which was not involved in the negotiations as a voluntary interest group, thanked both sides "for their sense of responsibility in a continuing difficult economic situation."
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