Allinger, Bernadette

Negotiations in Austria between the sectoral social partners responsible for collective bargaining in the journalism sector started in 2009. The Austrian Newspaper Association (VÖZ [1]) and the Union for Salaried Employees, Journalists and Graphical Workers (GPA-djp [2]) have finally signed a new collective agreement which will include online journalists for the first time. [1] http://www.voez.at [2] http://www.gpa-djp.at

The Austrian Government [1] has brought in new legislation to introduce two new further education and training measures. The qualified employees’ grant (Fachkräftestipendium) and educational part-time work measure (Bildungsteilzeit [2]) come into force on 1 July 2013. The idea is to reduce the numbers of unskilled employees, especially in areas where there is a labour shortage. [1] http://www.bka.gv.at/site/3327/Default.aspx [2] https://www.help.gv.at/Portal.Node/hlpd/public/module?gentics.am=Content&p.contentid=10007.76595

After several rounds of tough negotiations and protest actions, a new collective agreement was reached for the 120,000 employees in Austria’s social and health service sector. The resulting wage increase of 2.7% could be regarded as relatively low compared to other sectors.

Austria’s federal Minister for Economy, Family and Youth, Reinhold Mitterlehner, has sparked a fresh debate on working time flexibility. In a recent interview, he demanded more flexible working hours and an extension of the reference period for the averaging of working time to two years.

Peter Haubner, General Secretary of the Austrian Business Alliance (ÖWB [1]) which is affiliated to the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP [2]), has said that the first day of sick leave should not be paid by employers. His proposal was put forward after the publication of data showing that while total sick leave figures had decreased over the past few years, short-term sickness (of one to three days) had increased. [1] http://www.wirtschaftsbund.at/ [2] http://www.oevp.at/

Austria appears to have coped well after opening its labour market to workers from eight new central and eastern European Member States on 1 May 2011, according to data from the Federal Economic Chamber (WKÖ [1]). [1] http://www.wko.at/

Austrian Airlines [1] declared a record operating loss of €67 million in the first quarter of 2012, following a €60 million loss in 2011. The management of the Lufthansa [2] subsidiary announced an austerity package to save €263 million, €45 million of which was to come from cuts in personnel costs. The airline has 6,000 employees, 2,300 of whom are flight crew. Even though the airline has cut 1,500 jobs since 2009, annual staff costs have not fallen from their 2009 level of €438 million a year, largely due to wage increases. [1] http://www.austrian.com/ [2] http://www.lufthansa.com

The 2011 autumn collective bargaining round in the retail sector brought about significant improvements for employees, the majority of whom are women.

Collective bargaining in the metalworking sector got off to a bad start when the demands of both sides were made public. This action was highly unusual, as demands are normally kept secret and exchanged only at the first meeting of the negotiations. However, in the weeks before the meeting the employers’ side had stated that they would offer a wage increase roughly compensating for the inflation rate. After the first, unsuccessful bargaining round, union representatives held a press conference announcing their aim of securing a 5.5% pay rise. This was seen by some experts as being highly ambitious.

The 2011 annual meeting of the Austrian social partners, held in the spa town of Bad Ischl, was dedicated to consideration of ‘The effect of demographic developments on the labour market and the social security system’. At the meeting, the heads of the major social partner organisations discussed a set of measures to increase Austria’s average actual retirement age.