Austrian Trade Union Federation holds 14th federal congress

In October 1999, the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB) held its 14th federal congress, under the slogan of "security in the process of change". Debates centred on the challenge of developing alternatives to a deregulation of working conditions inspired by "neo-liberal" economic thinking. ÖGB's core policy demands are a 35-hour working week and the harmonisation of the legal status of blue- and white-collar workers.

Once every four years, the Austrian Trade Union Federation (Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund, ÖGB) holds its federal congress, at which new policy directions are formally agreed and the steering committee is elected. The 14th federal congress was held on 12-15 October 1999, attended by 600 delegates, under the slogan of "security in the process of change" (Sicherheit im Wandel)

Debate on principles

The ÖGB congress was largely devoted to developing alternative policy ideas to counter demands for the deregulation of work which have been raised in the light of economic internationalisation. The ambivalent nature of job creation through deregulation was stressed by the invited speakers, the former USA secretary of labour, Robert B Reich, and the general secretary of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), Bill Jordan. While the former advocates a combination of US-type deregulated business law with increased flexibility of labour and European-type social security provisions, the latter demanded world-wide minimum conditions as a precondition for maintaining European standards of labour protection. In this regard, ÖGB president Fritz Verzetnitsch demanded in his main speech the creation of European social norms and collective bargaining institutions in order to prevent "social dumping". This was also emphasised as a necessary precondition for a further enlargement of the European Union. Further, Mr Verzetnitsch regarded transnational coordination of collective bargaining as the road to maintaining European labour standards. It was also stated that an increasingly important task of ÖGB in the future is to develop regulation for those working in new forms of dependent employment. Since these categories of workers do not fit into the classical definitions of employees, and cannot easily be contacted byÖGB, they lack representative organisations capable of defending their interests.

Policy demands

At the policy level, six issues have been set as primary aims on ÖGB's agenda for the coming years:

• the harmonisation of the employment rights of blue- and white-collar workers, though the Aktion Fairnesscampaign (AT9906153N);

• the reduction of working time to 35 hours per week via collective agreements (AT9812115F). In order to facilitate a compromise between employer demands for working time flexibility and employee needs for protection against the abuse of flexibility, ÖGB proposes to reduce both standard working time and overtime work. The ensuing reduction in income has to be compensated by increases in basic wages and salaries;

• an amendment of the labour law covering new forms of work. Since an increasing share of employment is no longer established as a standard employment contract, in order to escape labour regulations, ÖGB demands a redefinition of the concept of employment and an extension of security provisions to new, "atypical" forms of work;

• a severance payment by the employer in case of employees terminating their own employment. In order to increase inter-firm worker mobility, ÖGB demands an extension of severance payment regulations to employees who quit their job themselves. Currently, such payments are due only in the event of dismissal by the employer, and if the employee has been employed at the same firm for more than three years (AT9811109F);

• a reform of vocational training. In order to distribute the costs of vocational training equally among firms, regardless of whether they are engaged in training, ÖGB calls for a new fund to be sponsored by the employers. In addition, life-long learning opportunities must be improved; and

• a minimum monthly wage of EUR 1,000.

Internal organisation

Fritz Verzetnitsch was re-elected as president for a third period in office, as were the vice-presidents Johann Driemer, Fritz Neugebauer, Rudolf Nürnberger, Hans Sallmutter, and Günter Weninger. Renate Csörgits took over the vice-presidency formerly held by Irmgard Schmidleithner.

At 31 December 1998, ÖGB membership stood at 1,480,000, with women making up a greater proportion of members than before and - after a period of decline - membership among young people increasing (AT9907158N). In view of stagnating overall membership numbers and dues, ÖGB intends to improve the quality and efficiency of membership services in order to attract members, for example by improving insurance benefits. Most notable with regard to organisational issues is the ongoing debate about the structural reform of ÖGB, which envisages closer cooperation and mergers of affiliates with overlapping or neighbouring constituencies (AT9806192F).

Commentary

The 14th ÖGB congress took place during a period in which organisations representing employees are increasingly on the defensive. Employers, government representatives and public opinion have put pressure on the unions to accept a deregulation of working conditions intended to improve the attractiveness of Austria for business. Increasing heterogeneity of employment conditions and of member interests, and the declining propensity of employees to unionise make it both more difficult and more urgent for the unions to develop successful political strategies. The extension of member services by the regional Chambers of Labour (Kammern für Arbeiter und Angestellte, AK) has curtailed the ÖGB's ability to recruit members through the provision of services. Similar problems have emerged in relation to works councils.

A fundamental reorganisation of ÖGB's current 14 affiliates into three "pillars" (production, private services, and public services), as initially discussed in the "ÖGB 2000" organisational committee which was set up at the 13th federal congress in 1995, seems to be off the agenda at present. Instead, the affiliated unions are attempting to improve policy coordination by joining forces over specific issues.

The primary aims defined for the coming years basically repeat those which had been set at the 13th federal congress. This reflects the difficulty of realising union goals in an economic and political context unfavourable to labour. All the demands, in particular the reduction of working time and the harmonisation of labour law for white- and blue-collar employees, face strong employer resistance. (Bernhard Kittel, University of Vienna)