Adam, Georg
Controversy over financial participation schemes
18 november 2007
In the run-up to this year’s autumn collective bargaining [1] round, a
controversy arose over the possible re-design of Austria’s traditional wage
bargaining formula in the future. The debate was further fuelled in August
2007 when the Federal Minister for Financial Affairs and Vice-Chancellor,
Wilhelm Molterer of the conservative Austrian People’s Party
(Österreichische Volkspartei, ÖVP [2]), suggested doubling the current
number of employees covered by any form of financial participation [3] by
2010. At present, around 6% of Austria’s employees hold some kind of shares
in their employer company, and 5% receive productivity-based bonuses or
profit-related pay. According to the ÖVP’s expectations, the proportion of
employees covered by financial participation schemes should be raised to 20%
by the end of the current legislative period in 2010.
[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/collective-bargaining
[2] http://www.oevp.at/
[3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/financial-participation
Social partners push for labour market access for asylum seekers
21 oktober 2007
Currently, thousands of asylum seekers from around the world are expecting a
decision from the relevant Austrian authorities on their pending asylum
procedures. About 14,000 asylum seekers have been awaiting judgement on their
case for a period exceeding three years and several hundreds of them have
been waiting for a decision for more than 10 years. This is the case despite
the fact that, due to a very restrictive immigration policy pursued by the
previous Austrian governments in recent years, the number of asylum seekers
coming to Austria has significantly decreased. In 2006, some 13,350 people
filed an application with the Austrian authorities to be granted asylum for
the first time.
New law sanctions private care services by foreign nationals
14 oktober 2007
In Austria, thousands of older people privately engage the services of
illegal foreign workers for geriatric nursing purposes in the home. This is
because they cannot afford to pay licensed professionals to provide such
services. Currently, experts estimate that around 40,000 illegally operating
foreign nursing staff offer their services to persons needing such care in
the home. To remove the threat of immediate prosecution of the parties
involved and thereby secure the existing care relationships, in the autumn of
2006, the then opposition Social Democratic Party (Sozialdemokratische Partei
Österreichs, SPÖ [1]) and the conservative Austrian People’s Party
(Österreichische Volkspartei, ÖVP [2]) agreed to temporarily legalise most
of these illicit employment relationships (*AT0701019I* [3]). This interim
amnesty is a step towards the objective of completely reorganising the labour
market in the field of private care services.
[1] http://www.spoe.at/
[2] http://www.oevp.at/
[3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/temporary-work-permits-issued-to-illegal-foreign-care-workers
More flexible working time rules introduced
16 september 2007
On 1 August 2007, the Austrian parliament (Nationalrat [1]) endorsed an
amendment to the Working Time Act (Arbeitszeitgesetz, AZG) with support only
from members of the coalition government parties. The amendment, which was
based on a draft bill jointly presented by the social partners on 3 May 2007,
provides for greater working time flexibility [2]. The new legislation also
adopted almost all of the proposals presented in the working time chapter of
the government programme (Regierungsprogramm 2007–2010 (in German, 415Kb
PDF) [3]) of the coalition government of the Social Democratic Party
(Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs, SPÖ [4]) and the conservative
Austrian People’s Party (Österreichische Volkspartei, ÖVP [5])
established in January 2007 (*AT0702029I* [6]). The more flexible working
time regime aims to better accommodate both the various sector-related
business demands and employee needs in terms of work-life balance [7].
[1] http://www.parlament.gv.at/portal/page?_pageid=888,1&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
[2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/flexibility
[3] http://www.austria.gv.at/DocView.axd?CobId=19542
[4] http://www.spoe.at/
[5] http://www.oevp.at/
[6] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/government-seeks-more-working-time-flexibility
[7] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/worklife-balance-0
Social partners agree to minimum wage increase
29 juli 2007
On 2 July 2007, the President of the Austrian Trade Union Federation
(Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund, ÖGB [1]), Rudolf Hundstorfer, and the
President of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (Wirtschaftskammer
Österreich, WKÖ [2]), Christoph Leitl, signed an agreement ‘in
principle’, which aims to introduce a national minimum monthly gross pay
rate of €1,000. The signatory parties agreed to establish the new minimum
wage across all sectors of the national economy through sectoral collective
agreements, at the latest by 1 January 2009. Sectors affected by the
agreement will include textiles and leather, food manufacturing and several
branches of the private services sector, such as hairdressers, pedicurists,
cosmeticians and taxi drivers. It is estimated that between 20,000 and 30,000
employees will be affected by the agreement.
[1] http://www.oegb.at/
[2] http://portal.wko.at/
Dispute over future pay scheme at Austrian Airlines
22 juli 2007
On 22 May 2007, the parties to collective bargaining signed an agreement on
behalf of about 3,500 ground staff of the Austrian Airlines group (AUA [1]),
the country’s national air carrier. This agreement marks the temporary end
of a serious conflict lasting several months, when negotiations over a
follow-up collective agreement for commercial and technical staff ended in
deadlock after the previous agreement had elapsed on 31 October 2006.
[1] http://www.aua.com/at/deu
First collective agreement for universities signed
27 maj 2007
Like several other former public authorities (*AT0307203F* [1], *AT0203202F*
[2]), Austrian universities changed from the status of a public authority to
the status of a corporation with legal capacity in 2002 – a system known as
/Ausgliederung/. Restructuring of the universities has thus led to
semi-private, ‘hybrid’ employment relations, since the civil servants who
were appointed before restructuring have maintained their public law
employment status, whereas employees who have been employed since 1 January
2004 are recruited under a private law employment contract. The University
Act 2002 (/Universitätsgesetz/) on university restructuring introduced the
private sector model of industrial relations, by equipping the
newly-established National University Federation (Dachverband der
österreichischen Universitäten [3]) as the umbrella employer organisation
with the right to bargain.
[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/restructuring-of-public-services-challenges-union-demarcation-lines
[2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined/industrial-relations-in-posts-and-telecommunications-examined
[3] http://www.reko.ac.at/dachverband/
Latest union merger part of ongoing process
21 maj 2007
On 6 and 7 December 2006, the newly-established vida [1] trade unions [2]
held its founding congress in Vienna in the presence of some 774 delegates of
the three predecessor unions. At this event, the union was officially set up
as a result of the merger of the former Union of Railway Employees
(Gewerkschaft der Eisenbahner, GdE), the blue-collar Commerce and Transport
Union (Gewerkschaft Handel, Transport, Verkehr, HTV) and the blue-collar
Hotels, Catering and Personal Services Union (Gewerkschaft Hotel,
Gastgewerbe, Persönlicher Dienst, HGPD).
[1] http://www.vida.at/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=S03/Page/S03_Index&n=S03_0
[2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/trade-unions
Social partners agree on measures to combat social security fraud
21 maj 2007
In mid April 2007, the respective Presidents of Austria’s two major social
partner organisations, Christoph Leitl of the Austrian Federal Economic
Chamber (Wirtschaftskammer Österreich, WKÖ [1]) and Rudolf Hundstorfer of
the Austrian Trade Union Federation (Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund,
ÖGB [2]), agreed on measures aimed at preventing social security fraud in
companies. According to the social partner proposal, employers should in
future be obliged to register their employees with the relevant social
insurance institutions before the commencement of work or on the day of
commencement at the latest.
[1] http://portal.wko.at/wk/startseite.wk
[2] http://www.oegb.at/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=OEGBZ/Page/OEGBZ_Index&n=OEGBZ_0
Union seeks greater autonomy from confederation
02 maj 2007
From 22 to 24 January 2007, the Austrian Trade Union Federation
(Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund, ÖGB [1]) held its sixteenth general
congress (/Bundeskongress/), the ÖGB’s highest governing body, at the
Austria Centre Vienna (ACV [2]). At its congress, the trade union federation
adopted the first step of an internal restructuring process; this was deemed
necessary in the wake of the conflict related to the financial scandal
concerning the Bank for Employment and Commerce (Bank für Arbeit und
Wirtschaft AG, BAWAG [3]) and the former ÖGB leadership’s involvement in
this controversy (*AT0604019I* [4]). The applications and proposals for a
comprehensive reform of the trade union submitted at the congress were
largely based on the results of ballots and regional conferences organised
throughout the country during the autumn of 2006 (*AT0611029I* [5]).
[1] http://www.oegb.at/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=OEGBZ/Page/OEGBZ_Index&n=OEGBZ_0
[2] http://www.acv.at/evo/web/acv/2268_DE
[3] http://www.bawag.com/bawag/home/nav.html
[4] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/union-president-forced-to-resign-over-bank-scandal
[5] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/disagreement-over-future-role-of-trade-union-federation