In Austria, rail traffic across the country came to a standstill on Monday due to a strike. International connections are already affected from Sunday evening. The reason for this is failed negotiations on a new collective agreement for railway workers, the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) announced on Sunday.
"Unfortunately, after more than twelve hours of intensive talks, the social partners were unable to reach an agreement," the statement said. Therefore, the transport and service union vida has scheduled a warning strike for Monday from 0 a.m. to midnight.
Cross-border rail traffic and night travel are also affected, it said. There will be failures in the Nightjet and EuroNight connections from Sunday evening to Tuesday morning.
According to its own statements, ÖBB informed its passengers as a precaution on Friday. It is requested to postpone non-essential trips or to choose alternative travel options.
The private Westbahn, which runs between Vienna and Munich, also announced a stop on Monday. Buses and other public transport in Austria are not affected.
The vida union, which represents around 50,000 railway workers, had demanded a flat-rate wage increase of 400 euros, which employee representatives said would mean an average increase of around 12 percent.
The Chamber of Commerce, which conducts negotiations on the employer side, recently improved its offer to 8.4 percent. Inflation in Austria was eleven percent year-on-year in October.
On Sunday morning, however, both sides said the talks had failed for the time being and blamed each other. "I have no understanding for this strike," said ÖBB boss Andreas Matthä. The current wage offer is higher than in all other sectors.
The union, on the other hand, speaks of a “bogus offer”. The original offer of 200 euros monthly fixed amount has only been increased by eight euros. "Eight euros do not avert a warning strike," said Gerhard Tauchner, deputy chairman of the vida trade union's railway department.
Employer chief negotiator Thomas Scheiber described the demands as excessive and the procedure as irresponsible. “The union is taking the entire industry and its customers hostage with their unrealistic demands. I apologize to all passengers, we were no longer able to avert the strike with this approach by the union," said Scheiber.
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