If the trade rejoices, the workers get nothing out of it
Retail companies are celebrating sales, while employees are supposed to swallow wage losses.
KV negotiation
Boom in the Christmas business – but not for the employees
After the second shopping weekend around December 8, business representatives are once again outdoing each other with jubilant reports about full shopping streets, strong footfall and sales above the previous year's level. Customers pay higher prices for this – but those who sort, pick and deliver in the background do not receive a single euro of this success.
Employees in the retail warehouses and in transport are coping with a record workload, but are not benefiting from the booming Christmas business. Instead, they are threatened with real wage losses.
No fair offer in the collective bargaining negotiations
The ongoing collective bargaining negotiations reveal a clear imbalance: while companies are talking about growth, fair wage offers are failing to materialize.
"When the trade rejoices, it has very little to do with the wages of those employees who toil in the background."vida-Verhandlungsleiterin
She adds: "While companies are talking about sales growth, colleagues in warehouses and trucks are working at the limit - and are to be fobbed off with a deal below inflation in the end. This is cynical and can be equated with wage theft."
Particularly bitter: Already in the previous year, retail workers had to accept real income losses. This year it would be all the more necessary to finally compensate for this waiver.
But at the third round of collective bargaining on December 3, the employers again did not present a fair offer - and finally left the negotiating table. A new date is still pending. Despite flourishing business, the employers' side fell far short of the demanded inflation compensation.
Load in warehouses and transport continues to increase
The labour-intensive Christmas business causes peak loads year after year. The colleagues in the logistics centers, warehouses and on the streets keep the system running - without this commitment being reflected in the wallet.
Heitzinger puts it in a nutshell: The profits in retail are "achieved on the backs of those who sort, pick and deliver every day." Anyone who benefits from high-turnover shopping days must be prepared to pay fairly for this service.
Not a nice present: Falling wages with rising prices
The vida trade unionist emphasizes that a real wage increase is not only justified, but economically necessary. Labor-intensive peak times such as the Christmas business must be clearly recognized. Because one thing is clear: growing sales with falling wages at the same time simply do not go together.
For 150,000 retail workers, a contract below inflation means less purchasing power – and thus less money for daily consumption. This affects not only the employees, but also the domestic economy.
Fair wages bring each side a real "nice present"
In order for the Christmas business to bring a brilliant balance sheet not only to the companies, a clear commitment to fair wages is needed. This is the only way to benefit those who form the foundation of success: the employees.
A fair wage increase would therefore not only be an imperative of justice, but also an economic impulse that benefits everyone – and finally brings a really nice present.
