Adam, Georg

In recent years, the Austrian legislator has endorsed a series of laws seeking to tackle the problem of social security [1] fraud in companies – particularly in the construction sector. For instance, on 1 March 2005, the Social Fraud Bill (/Sozialbetrugsgesetz/, SozBeG) came into effect, which extended the legal provisions of criminal law concerning organised tax and social fraud (*AT0506201N* [2]). Moreover, in 2007, a legal obligation was introduced for employers to register their employees with the relevant social insurance institutions before the commencement of work. This legal initiative sought to combat fraudulent practices in companies, whereby employers had failed to register some of their staff in time for the sole purpose of evading taxes and social insurance contributions (*AT0705019I* [3]). [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/social-security [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/building-industry-and-social-partners-call-for-stricter-social-fraud-bill [3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/social-partners-agree-on-measures-to-combat-social-security-fraud

On 9 July 2009, the Austrian parliament endorsed a package of measures designed to stimulate the national labour market. The measures follow a labour market package introduced in early 2009, which had failed to generate the desired effects. The latest measures aim to prevent a rise in unemployment due to the current economic downturn. This legal initiative was launched by the current social-democratic and conservative coalition government, in close cooperation with the core social partner organisations.

From 30 June to 2 July 2009, the Austrian Trade Union Federation (Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund, ÖGB [1]) held its 17th general congress (/Bundeskongress/) – the ÖGB’s highest governing body – in Austria’s capital city Vienna. At this event, the federation adopted the continuation of an internal restructuring [2] process launched at the last congress in 2007. Restructuring had become necessary in the wake of the conflict related to the financial disaster 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 (*AT0703039I* [4]). [1] http://www.oegb.at/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=OEGBZ/Page/OEGBZ_Index&n=OEGBZ_0 [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/restructuring [3] http://www.bawagpsk.com/bawag/home/nav.html [4] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/union-seeks-greater-autonomy-from-confederation

With some delay, compared to most other highly industrialised European countries, the global recession has also spread to Austria since the beginning of 2009. According to the country’s most recognised research institutes in economics, Austria’s economic slowdown is expected to fall between minus 2.2% and minus 2.7% in 2009, and the year’s overall inflation rate is estimated to be between 0.6% and 0.9%. The business segment most affected by the current crisis is the exposed industry sector.

During the spring of 2009, the five-yearly round of elections of representatives on the governing bodies of the Chambers of Labour (Arbeiterkammern, AK [1]) took place. The structure and function of the AK as well as the election results are briefly outlined below. [1] http://www.arbeiterkammer.at/beratung.htm

Against the background of the current global economic recession, which has also substantially hit Austria, many companies facing financial difficulties have initiated restructuring [1] measures. As a consequence, a still growing number of businesses have closed or reduced their scale of operations, resulting in numerous job losses. According to the most recent data provided by the Labour Market Service (Arbeitsmarktservice, AMS [2]), in April 2009 the overall unemployment rate increased by 1.4 percentage points compared with the previous year (according to the national mode of count). [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/restructuring [2] http://www.ams.or.at/

On 3 March 2009, a few days ahead of the International Women’s Day celebrated annually on 8 March, the EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Vladimír Špidla, presented, at a kick-off event in Brussels, a new EU information campaign labelled Close the gender pay gap [1]. In this context, the most recent gender pay [2] gap data for each EU country were released, indicating an estimated gap in earnings of 25.5% for Austria in 2007. This is the second highest value of all EU Member States, which is only outweighed by Estonia with an approximate 30% pay gap, while the EU average is estimated at 17.4%. [1] http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=681&langId=en [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/pay

In July 2007, the then presidents of the Austrian Trade Union Federation (Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund, ÖGB [1]) and the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (Wirtschaftskammer Österreich, WKO [2]) signed a so-called ‘agreement in principle’. Accordingly, a nationwide minimum monthly gross wage rate of €1,000 for full-time employment was to be introduced by 1 January 2009 at the latest. The explicit aim of this initiative was to urge the responsible bargaining units at sectoral and branch level to secure such minimum pay standards across all sectors of the national economy for all pay grades through sector or branch-level collective agreements. [1] http://www.oegb.at/ [2] http://portal.wko.at/wk/startseite.wk

On 22 January 2009, the respective federal executive boards (/Bundesvorstände/) of the Metalworking, Textiles, Agriculture and Food-processing Union (Gewerkschaft Metall- Textil-Nahrung, GMTN [1]) and the Union of Chemical Workers (Gewerkschaft der Chemiearbeiter, GdC [2]) announced their decision to merge the two organisations. In formal terms, the merger process is scheduled for 25–27 November 2009, when the two trade unions will hold their last separate congresses (/Gewerkschaftstage/) and subsequently the first joint congress. They will formally finalise the establishment of the new trade union organisation at this joint congress. The new union will be called the Production Trade Union (Produktionsgewerkschaft, pro.ge). [1] http://www.gmtn.at [2] http://www1.oegb.or.at/chemie/

Only a year after the last amendment to the childcare benefit scheme (/Kinderbetreuungsgeld/), which came into effect on 1 January 2008, the newly formed coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs, SPÖ [1]) and the conservative People’s Party (Österreichische Volkspartei, ÖVP [2]) agreed to modify the scheme again. The aim is to render the scheme more attractive to men and women with a higher income, in that financial compensation for taking parental leave [3] should be increased in exchange for a shorter period of leave. More precisely, the current flat-rate scheme is planned to be extended by an income-related option. [1] http://www.spoe.at/ [2] http://www.oevp.at/ [3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/parental-leave