Austria: railway workers strike for higher wages

Empty tracks are seen at the central station as Austrian railway workers stage a strike that halts all train traffic across the country after last-minute wage talks broke down in Vienna, Austria November 28, 2022. REUTERS - LISA LEUTNER

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1 min

In Austria, the trains are at a standstill, this Monday, November 28, throughout the country.

The reason ?

A strike by railway workers demanding higher wages.

This strike, extremely rare in Austria, must end at midnight.

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With our correspondent in Vienna,

isaure hiace

The 50,000 Austrian railway workers launched a " 

warning strike

" on Monday  after the failure of negotiations to obtain a wage increase.

This is extremely rare in Austria.

Since this morning, no train has been running in the country.

According to the national railway company, ÖBB, the strike affects all routes, both regional and cross-border.

One million users are affected.

If the road traffic was logically much denser this Monday morning, in particular on the outskirts of the big cities, there was no chaos, the Austrians seem to have prepared for this day of action.

The students were also allowed to stay at home on Monday.

Railway workers are demanding a salary increase of 400 euros per month, pointing to the fact that inflation is currently 11%.

But the negotiations on this point failed this weekend, which is why this strike movement, which will end at midnight, has been decided.

The railway workers hope to be able to resume negotiations on Tuesday, but no appointment has yet been set.

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  • Economic crisis

  • Social issues