Vast majority of ÖGB members vote for further protest action

In October 2001, the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB) held a ballot of its members in an attempt to to strengthen its political position and legitimise further protest actions against government legislation. More than 800,000 union members voted and the vast majority were in favour of the six political demands proposed by ÖGB, as well as a mandate to call a strike. Nevertheless, ÖGB is primarily seeking to convert the support of its members into renewed influence at the negotiating table.

Since the populist Freedom Party (Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs, FPÖ) and the conservative People's Party (Österreichische Volkspartei, ÖVP) formed a new coalition government in February 2000 (AT0002212F), political tensions between the government and organised labour have continually increased (AT0007225F). In July 2001, the conflict appeared to peak when, for the first time in its history, the Austrian Trade Union Federation (Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund, ÖGB) called upon its members nationwide to take part in demonstrations against new government legislation. However, the government, unimpressed by the protests, finally pushed through its contentious policy of reforming the structure of the social insurance system (AT0108225N). In August 2001, ÖGB, fearing a further loss of influence in public policy-making, decided to hold a first-ever membership ballot with the aim of regaining its political power and legitimising further protest actions against government legislation.

On 19 October 2001, the president of ÖGB, Fritz Verzetnitsch, proudly presented the results of the membership ballot held between 24 September and 15 October. Of the 1,428,409 union members who were entitled to vote, a total of 807,192 or 56.6% cast their ballot, which was more than even ÖGB officials had expected. Moreover, a vast majority of members agreed to provide ÖGB with a mandate to call a strike, if necessary. This is remarkable, since the frequency and scale of industrial disputes have been extraordinarily low in Austria until now. Although the outcome of the vote and the high turnout are widely regarded as a clear signal of protest against the ÖVP-FPÖ coalition government, Mr Verzetnitsch has indicated that he wants the Chamber of the Economy (Wirtschaftskammer Österreich, WKÖ) employers' organisation and the coalition government to resume negotiations rather than adopt a policy of confrontation in matters of economic and welfare policy.

Results in detail

ÖGB asked its members to vote on the following six political demands, asking them to approve or reject them (AT0109201F):

1. the Austrian system of social partnership should be strengthened;

2. the obligatory system of social insurance (Pflichtversicherung) should be maintained;

3. wage increases and working time should continue to be regulated through collective bargaining;

4. employees should be entitled to severance pay from the first day of service with their current employer;

5. the government should launch an education initiative to remove any social barriers to education; and

6. high standards of public services should be maintained and the sale of public property stopped.

There was an additional question (no. 7) concerned the mandate to call a strike, asking: Shall the ÖGB, if necessary, adopt a policy of confrontation to enforce its demands concerning the future of Austria and its people?

The final results of the membership ballot for each of the seven questions are presented in the table below.