Unions sign new agreement with Red Cross

After two rounds of collective bargaining, the ver.di trade union has agreed a new 26-month deal with the German Red Cross covering around 50000 employees. Members have until June 15 to vote on the agreement which runs to 31 May 2025. From 1 August this year there will be a €1200 tax-free payment which employers can deliver in five instalments by the end of the year. In addition, workers will get €200 a month from September 2023 up to and including May 2024. There will be a pay increase of €200 plus 6% in June 2024. Various allowances are set to increase by 12% and there are also pay rises for

The vida and GPA private services unions have negotiated a new collective agreement covering the 7,000 employees in the regional associations of the Austrian Red Cross. All employees in the framework collective agreement will get a 9.15% increase while all employees in the new collective agreement section B and in the province of Vienna will get 9.2%. The increases are backdated to 1 January 2024. The collective agreement ensures that important provisions that previously differed from one province to another have now been successfully harmonised across the country, with a normal working week

The vida and GPA-djp service unions have broken off negotiations with the Red Cross because they feel their demands are falling on deaf ears. The unions want to see improvements in the collective agreement to bring it in line with comparable agreements with similar employers in the sector. Key demands include a five-day working week as standard, more leave, improvements in relation to split shifts and better allowances for Sunday and night working. They also want to see national approaches to paid breaks and allowances for children rather than different rules in different regions.