Every year, the roughly 1.4 million part-time workers in Austria clock an estimated 7.2 million unpaid overtime hours. Women make up more than three-quarters of that workforce. On July 8, the Austrian Chamber of Labour (AK) handed a petition titled \u201cMehr Respekt f\u00fcr Teilzeit\u201d to politicians, backed by 36,200 signatures. It demands a legal right to increase weekly hours when overtime becomes regular, and a 50 percent pay premium from the first extra hour worked. \u201cWomen do not work less\u2014they are just paid worse,\u201d an \u00d6GB representative stressed.<\/p>\n
Across the border in Switzerland, employees of Zurich\u2019s public transport operator VBZ delivered their own petition\u2014signed by over 1,000 staff\u2014to city councillor Michael Baumer. The VPOD union wants breaks during split shifts capped at 90 minutes and the company to join a pilot project for a 35-hour week. The existing workplace agreement has been terminated; without improvements, new rules might not take effect until late 2027. Zurich city authorities have until the end of August to respond.<\/p>\n
Safety concerns also resurfaced at VBZ. A report published July 8 into a collision of two trams in September 2025\u2014which left several people seriously injured\u2014recommends retrofitting older vehicles with driver-attention assistants. The accident was triggered by a driver\u2019s medical issue. VBZ says it is examining the proposals.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, at university hospitals in Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg, staff walked out on July 8. ver.di called warning strikes across Freiburg, Heidelberg, Ulm and T\u00fcbingen, affecting around 26,000 employees. The union is demanding a 7.5 percent pay rise (at least \u20ac320 per month). Employers countered with a one-off payment of \u20ac400 and a staggered increase totalling 4.75 percent. Emergency care remained operational at all sites.<\/p>\n
In Wuppertal, discontent is brewing in the municipal swimming pools. Shop stewards on July 8 called for a \u201cpersonnel offensive,\u201d criticising last-minute staff swaps and excessive overtime. Their demands include speedily filling vacant positions and issuing reliable shift schedules.<\/p>\n
At Volkswagen, nationwide protests loomed on July 9 ahead of a supervisory board meeting on deeper cost-cutting plans. IG Metall organised rallies in Wolfsburg, Emden, Zwickau and Hanover; Stuttgart workers planned a car convoy and Ingolstadt a flash mob. No warning strikes were initially scheduled.<\/p>\n
The situation in Saarland\u2019s local transit system escalated further. The German Locomotive Drivers\u2019 Union (GDL) called drivers of the Saarbahn on an open-ended strike starting late afternoon July 9. The union wants a separate collective agreement for about 80 drivers, arguing that previous negotiations produced no acceptable outcome.<\/p>\n
Retail workers in Bremen and Lower Saxony had already staged warning strikes in early July, with ver.di demanding a 7 percent wage increase. Employers, after several rounds, offered 2.4 percent after six months without any raise.<\/p>\n
At Swiss public broadcaster SRF, resistance is mounting against planned job cuts. Six hundred and twelve employees signed a protest letter opposing the dismissal of speech trainers as part of a savings programme implemented in late June. The SSM media union demands the measures be reversed. SRG\u2019s HR department rejected the allegations, pointing to a future mix of internal and external training.<\/p>\n
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