Adam, Georg

On 6 and 7 December 2006, the newly-established vida [1] trade unions [2] held its founding congress in Vienna in the presence of some 774 delegates of the three predecessor unions. At this event, the union was officially set up as a result of the merger of the former Union of Railway Employees (Gewerkschaft der Eisenbahner, GdE), the blue-collar Commerce and Transport Union (Gewerkschaft Handel, Transport, Verkehr, HTV) and the blue-collar Hotels, Catering and Personal Services Union (Gewerkschaft Hotel, Gastgewerbe, Persönlicher Dienst, HGPD). [1] http://www.vida.at/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=S03/Page/S03_Index&n=S03_0 [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/trade-unions

In mid April 2007, the respective Presidents of Austria’s two major social partner organisations, Christoph Leitl of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (Wirtschaftskammer Österreich, WKÖ [1]) and Rudolf Hundstorfer of the Austrian Trade Union Federation (Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund, ÖGB [2]), agreed on measures aimed at preventing social security fraud in companies. According to the social partner proposal, employers should in future be obliged to register their employees with the relevant social insurance institutions before the commencement of work or on the day of commencement at the latest. [1] http://portal.wko.at/wk/startseite.wk [2] http://www.oegb.at/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=OEGBZ/Page/OEGBZ_Index&n=OEGBZ_0

From 22 to 24 January 2007, the Austrian Trade Union Federation (Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund, ÖGB [1]) held its sixteenth general congress (/Bundeskongress/), the ÖGB’s highest governing body, at the Austria Centre Vienna (ACV [2]). At its congress, the trade union federation adopted the first step of an internal restructuring process; this was deemed necessary in the wake of the conflict related to the financial scandal 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 (*AT0604019I* [4]). The applications and proposals for a comprehensive reform of the trade union submitted at the congress were largely based on the results of ballots and regional conferences organised throughout the country during the autumn of 2006 (*AT0611029I* [5]). [1] http://www.oegb.at/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=OEGBZ/Page/OEGBZ_Index&n=OEGBZ_0 [2] http://www.acv.at/evo/web/acv/2268_DE [3] http://www.bawag.com/bawag/home/nav.html [4] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/union-president-forced-to-resign-over-bank-scandal [5] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/disagreement-over-future-role-of-trade-union-federation

The right to part-time work for parents of pre-school age children was first introduced by the then conservative-populist coalition government on 1 July 2004. The aim of the initiative was to facilitate the reconciliation of work and family commitments, in particular for mothers of small children (*AT0310201N* [1]). The parental part-time work scheme stipulates that all parents with children younger than seven years of age (or older in case of the postponement of their school entrance) are entitled to switch from full-time to part-time employment, or to alter their working time while retaining the volume of daily working hours during the working day. To avail of this scheme, the following preconditions must be met: [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/right-to-parental-part-time-work-proposed

According to the industry branch of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (Wirtschaftskammer Österreich, WKÖ [1]), the country’s businesses are suffering from a chronic shortfall of skilled domestic workers, at least in certain occupations. In particular, WKÖ reports a considerable shortage of welders, milling machine operators and turners, mechanics and toolmakers in metalworking. Consequently, WKÖ and a number of individual employers have reiterated their demands that access to the domestic labour market should be facilitated for skilled workers from the central and eastern EU Member States which acceded to the European Union on 1 May 2004. [1] http://portal.wko.at/

On 11 January 2007, the new coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs, SPÖ [1]) and the conservative Austrian People’s Party (Österreichische Volkspartei, ÖVP [2]) was inaugurated by Austria’s Federal President (/Bundespräsident/), Dr Heinz Fischer. In its government programme (Regierungsprogramm 2007–2010 (in German) [3]) for the coming legislative period 2007–2010, the new government outlined its plans to amend Austria’s working time regime, with the aim of introducing greater working time flexibility. When formulating the chapter on working time, the relevant political parties largely adopted a joint proposal devised by Austria’s major social partner organisations in the autumn of 2006. [1] http://www.spoe.at/ [2] http://www.oevp.at/index.aspx?pageid=737 [3] http://www.bundeskanzleramt.at/DocView.axd?CobId=19542

In its joint programme of January 2007 for the legislative period 2007-2010, the coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs, SPÖ [1]) and the conservative Austrian People’s Party (Österreichische Volkspartei, ÖVP [2]) agreed on a further extension of retail shop opening hours. On 30 January 2007, the Minister of Economics and Labour, Martin Bartenstein, unveiled a draft legislative amendment to the Shop Opening Hours Act (/Öffnungszeitengesetz/). This draft has been submitted to the social partners for them to provide expert advice by the end of March 2007. [1] http://www.spoe.at/ [2] http://www.oevp.at/index.aspx?pageid=737

During the summer of 2006, a heated debate arose over the longstanding problem of increasing numbers of illegally operating foreign geriatric nurses working in Austria’s private households. The debate was fuelled when the then Chancellor of the Austrian People’s Party (Österreichische Volkspartei, ÖVP [1]), Wolfgang Schüssel – who had previously attempted to play down the geriatric nursing problem – was forced to admit that his own mother-in-law was for some time being cared for by an illegal worker. [1] http://www.oevp.at/index.aspx?pageid=737

Youth, the role of young people in Europe and the importance of youth employment and qualification are high on the European agenda and at national level.

The new coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs, SPÖ [1]) and the conservative People’s Party (Österreichische Volkspartei, ÖVP [2]), which took office on 11 January 2007, has announced better protection measures against social risks for self-employed people, in particular so-called ‘economically dependent worker [3] s’. In their joint programme for the legislative period 2007–2010, the two parties committed themselves to enacting legislation extending unemployment insurance coverage, as well as sickness and maternity benefits, to self-employed persons. In doing so, the government has adopted part of a comprehensive package of social partner proposals (Wachstum und Vollbeschäftigung (in Austrian, 304Kb PDF) [4]), drawn up by Austria’s four major social partner organisations in December 2006. [1] http://www.spoe.at/ [2] http://www.oevp.at/index.aspx?pageid=737 [3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/economically-dependent-worker [4] http://www.arbeiterkammer.at/pictures/d48/Sozialpartner_Vorschlaege_Letztversion.pdf