Gächter, August
Case Studies of Good Practice for the Prevention of Racial Discrimination and Xenophobia and the Promotion of Equal Treatment in the Workplace: Austria
04 Gegužė 2006
In 1994 the Foundation launched a project Preventing Racism at the Workplace. For this project, national researchers within each EU Member State plus Norway, produced a report covering case studies of good practice within their own country. Most of the case studies concern policies which operate at the level of an individual company or organisation. However, sometimes activities take place at a sectoral, regional or national level, perhaps as a result of agreements between trade unions and employer's organisations. These include collective agreements, joint declarations, and information, training and education campaigns. Good examples of action at this level are therefore also included as case studies.
Low-key week of action over harmonisation
27 Rugsėjis 1999
From 10 to 17 September 1999, the Austrian Trade Union Federation
(Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund, ÖGB) organised a week of action to
underline its demand for a harmonisation of the legal position of wage
earners and salary earners (AT9906153N [1]). Legal distinctions between the
two categories persist in areas such as compensation during sick leave and
regulations governing dismissal. About 200 events were scheduled in the week
of action. The opening event took place in a square in Vienna and included
speeches and a pantomime. It was preceded by 6,000 faxes sent to the Austrian
Chamber of the Economy (Wirtschaftskammer Österreich, WKÖ), asking it to
give up its resistance to harmonisation. In other areas, information
hand-outs and homing pigeons were used in the actions. The public spaces
around provincial WKÖ headquarters were targeted for activities while others
took place in companies, without disrupting production.
[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/wage-and-salary-earners-remain-unequal
Autumn 1999 pay round starts
27 Rugsėjis 1999
In an unusual move, the first collective agreement of the 1999-2000
bargaining round covers about 50,000 salaried employees in crafts and trades,
excluding metalworking and the construction and timber sectors. From 1
January 2000, their minimum salaries will, on average, rise by 1.6%. The
lowest full-time annual gross salary will then be ATS 161,980. Actual
salaries may rise by less, since their increase is not specified in the
agreement. The deal was concluded between the Union of Salaried Employees
(Gewerkschaft der Privatangestellten, GPA) and 30 trades associations of the
Austrian Chamber of the Economy (Wirtschaftskammer Österreich, WKÖ).
Working time in retail still under debate
27 Rugpjūtis 1999
In late June 1999, opening hours in Austria's retail sector emerged anew as a
hotly debated issue. Most contributions to the debate focused on weekly
opening hours the Sunday closing of shops.
Another year without strikes
27 Rugpjūtis 1999
The 1998 strike statistics, published in summer 1999 by the Austrian Trade
Union Federation (Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund, ÖGB), shows the year
to have been free of strikes, including unauthorised strikes. After 1994 and
1996, this was the third year in the 1990s without strike activity, while in
1995 the figure was near nil (AT9707124N [1]). In 1997, there were 153,000
hours, or 1,913 days, of strike action in the public service when internal
revenue and customs staff struck twice in June, involving about 25,800
participants (AT9706117F [2])- there were thus about 0.3 minutes of strike
action per Austrian employee.
[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/another-year-without-strikes
[2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-working-conditions/civil-service-strikes
Mixed fortunes in transport disputes
27 Liepa 1999
Early summer 1999 had seen a number of disputes breaking out in the transport
sector, with commentators believing that Austria potentially faced a summer
of disruption on the roads and in the air (AT9906150F [1]). This had failed
to materialise by late July.
[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-working-conditions/austria-faces-summer-of-transport-disputes
Magna Charter vs works council
27 Liepa 1999
Magna International, one of the world's major automotive components
manufacturers, based in Canada, and founded and owned by a 1950s Austrian
emigrant, in 1998 acquired the Austrian Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG (SDP) for about
ATS 4 billion. At the same time, Magna continued to expand its own Austrian
operations. It has, by its own reckoning, so far invested ATS 11 billion in
Austria and created 1,300 jobs while cutting 100 jobs in one of the SDP
plants. While engineering jobs are carried out for a wide variety of
customers, much of the manufacturing output is destined for Daimler-Chrysler.
Recently, major orders were also received from BMW's Rover subsidiary, from
Opel and Saab ( the two General Motors subsidiaries), and from Volkswagen.
The latter order is expected to create another 300 jobs. Magna, however, is
threatening to divert the investment to Hungary or Germany because it feels
that its welcome in Austria has soured and its treatment has become unfair.
Trade union membership declines
27 Liepa 1999
At the end of 1998, membership of the Austrian Trade Union Federation
(Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund, ÖGB) stood at 1,480,016, or 17,568
less than at the end of 1997. This is a reduction of 1.2%. The number of
women members decreased by 0.7% to 471,091, while the number of men fell by
1.4% to 1,008,925. The share of women among ÖGB members thus climbed to
31.8%, the highest since 1945. The number of young people (below the age of
22) and apprentices increased by 4.2% to 51,972, after having fallen below
50,000 in 1997. The number of (white-collar) salary earners in membership
dropped by 1.0%, compared with 4.2% in 1997. In the public sector (including
the railways and posts/telecommunications) membership declined by 2,228 or
0.4% to 588,269 while the number of (blue-collar) wage earners in the private
sector declined by 12,038 or 2.0% to 577,501 following a loss of 2.9% in
1997.
Women demand higher pay
27 Birželis 1999
The 13th women's congress of the Austrian Trade Union Federation
(Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund, ÖGB) was held on 8-10 June 1999. A
whole series of demands were raised and formally passed by the delegates,
with equal opportunities for women at the centre of concerns. The demands
include the following.
Negotiations to cover temporary agency workers underway
27 Birželis 1999
A collective agreement to cover wage earners employed by temporary work
agencies whilst not actually hired out to user companies became an important
demand of the Austrian Trade Union Federation (Österreichischer
Gewerkschaftsbund, ÖGB) during the 1990s. At the beginning of July 1998,
there were 20,772 agency workers hired out by 742 agencies to 6,408
employers. While this number was very small it had risen from 8,000 since the
summer of 1989. The salary earners amongst the agency workers - 18% of the
total - are covered by a collective agreement, but the wage earners are not.
The main issue is the wage whilst not actually hired out, and a somewhat
lesser issue is the specification of wage entitlements once working for an
employer.