Austria

Union leader reacts to business leader’s call for wage restraint

Wolfgang Katzian, president of the GPA-DJP trade union that organises workers in the private energy and health sectors among others, has rejected calls by Christoph Leitl, head of the Austrian WKO business organisation to agree pay increases below the rate of inflation. Katzian points out that the majority of Austrian employers are making profits and that there is still plenty of room to negotiate pay increases. He also argues that low-paying sectors like retail where many women work would be particularly badly affected by below-inflation pay rises. Katzian emphasised the need to maintain workers’ purchasing power as rather than a risk of a wage-price spiral, there was more of a risk of contributing to an economic downturn by reducing domestic demand. Read more at > GPA-DJP (DE)

Decent pay and training for social care workers

The GÖD public service union has renewed its call for government action over the pay and training of health and social care workers. The union says that along with extra funding for 24-hour care the government should ensure that workers have proper training and that care workers should no longer be left alone to look after older people without the necessary training. The union argues that both care workers and the people they care for need the protection of proper training and that a better paid job with formal qualifications will help attract the much needed additional workers that are required for 24-hour care. Read more at > GÖD (DE)

Union calls for proper training and higher pay in health sector

Better employment conditions and a new funding system are need to improve the quality of health and social care according to Wolfgang Katzian, head of the GPA-DJP trade union that represents workers in the private health and social care sectors. In the context of a major debate over the reform of healthcare funding, Katzian underlined the importance of having properly regulated providers with trained staff covered by a collective agreement. The sector is currently plagued by pseudo-self-employment that makes regulation very difficult and undermines attempts to maintain pay and conditions. Read more at > GPA-DJP (DE)

Ambulance workers demonstrate over pay

Over 60 ambulances joined a demonstration in Vienna on 21 May as workers protested over deteriorating pay and conditions in the non-profit sector. Workers from the Austrian Red Cross, Johanniter (St.Johns) ambulance service and Workers’ Samaritan Federation are calling for a single collective agreement for the sector or extension of the agreement that currently covers Red Cross workers. Some workers are not covered by a collective agreement and there is evidence of long working hours - as many as 60 a week - without overtime pay. The demonstrators also raised the issue of the need for proper long-term funding and the importance of training. Read more at > GPA-DJP (DE)

Union calls for immediate negotiations over civil service pay and employment rights

The GÖD public sector union wants to begin negotiations as soon as possible over reforming the pay structure and employment rights of federal civil servants. The union has made it clear that the two issues go hand-in-hand and it wants to see pay reform include higher pay for new starters. Any reform of employment rights should also retain protection for civil servants’ jobs against political interference. The proposals were endorsed by two recent studies for both the unions and the government and on this basis the GÖD believes that negotiations can be completed quickly and that there is no need to wait until the autumn when the normal collective bargaining round begins. Read more at > GOED (DE)

Unions take to streets over deregulation of social care

Unions are concerned that planned legislation on 24-hour care will lead to unqualified and underpaid workers looking after the sick and elderly. The unions argue that mistakes are inevitable if untrained workers are entrusted with medical care and that in the worst case these mistakes could be fatal. The unions have organised a march to and demonstration outside the health ministry building in Vienna no 11 March. Read more at > GDG (DE) And at > GPA-DJP (DE)

Union challenges planned legal changes on social care

The GÖD public services federation has won some initial concessions from the government over planned changes to legislation covering 24-hour home care. The union was worried that the Bill would lead to widespread use of untrained staff and had planned a national demonstration and potential strike action in response to the government’s plans. However, representatives from GÖD were called to a meeting at the health ministry and got a positive response from their demands that the draft legislation should place a higher value on trained healthcare staff and not leave home care in the hands of untrained workers. The union is still considering demonstrations and strike action if the government does not come up with the promised changes to the legislation. Read more at > GÖD (DE) And at > GÖD (DE)

Unions secure 3.7% increase in private sector electricity companies

The EPSU affiliate GDP-DJP, representing workers in the private electricity industry, negotiated a 3.7% increase on pay and other allowances in a 12-month deal from 1 February 2008. The agreement also includes a €250 lump sum. Read more at > GDP-DJP (DE)

Unions welcome positive bargaining result for 2008

The public sector unions GÖD and GDG have welcomed the 2.7% pay increase for 2008 as one of the best for several years. The increase on pay and other allowances will translate into an average increase in earnings of 3.3% across the public sector, with the lower pay getting around 3.8%. Workers will also receive a lump sum payment of €175. Read more at > GÖD (DE) Read more at > GDG (DE)

Public sector unions submit claim for 4% increase

In the third round of negotiations with the government the public sector unions have submitted a pay claim for 4%. They argue that this is fully justified as it takes account of inflation, economic growth and productivity increases. The unions were angry that the government didn’t even make a counter offer. Read more at > GDG (DE)

First stage in public sector pay negotiations

The first stage of negotiations for the 2008 pay increase for around 400,000 public sector workers got under way last week with a presentation on the state of the economy. Christian Meidlinger, leader of the GDG local government union stressed that although a concrete demand had not yet been put forward, that public service workers would be looking for a decent increase in the light of inflation and economic growth. The GDG criticised public services minister Doris Bures for her public statements before the start of the negotiations with reference to outsourcing and questioning the right of public sector workers to share in productivity growth. Read more at > GDG (DE) And at > GDG (DE)

Starting wage of €1100 per month for surgery workers

Over the summer the women’s section of the GPA-DJP trade union began a campaign over the pay of workers in doctors’ surgeries. Part of the campaign included a survey to which 500 responded - 98% women. Just over 98% of the respondents supported the demand for a €1,100 per month starting salary for surgery workers. Sixty-eight percent of respondents thought that they were not properly rewarded for the responsibilities of their job and just over half said they often worked more than their contractual hours. Apart from the €1,100 starting salary GPA’s demands include annual salary increases and a collective agreement whose rules cover the whole country. Read more at > GPA-DJP (DE)

Pay negotiations start on 24 October

The public sector pay negotiations are set to begin on 24 October. The initial discussion will concentrate on an analysis of the economic situation. The GÖD, the public service union covering most of the public sector apart from local government, will be looking for a pay increase that takes account of both inflation and economic growth. The union will be keeping its members informed of progress with the negotiations on its website. Read more at > GÖD (DE)

Union leader launches working time debate

Wolfgang Katzian, leader of the GPA-DJP union that organises across the private sector including in electricity and health and social services, has called for a new 40-40-40 working time model. He is suggesting that a working career should be limited to 40 years, while the working week should be no more than 40 hours and that the working year should be only 40 weeks long. He argues that this would give workers more time for training and education as well as more time to rest and recuperate and so lessen time off work for sickness. Read more at > GPA-DJP (DE)

Union calls for pay talks

The GÖD public service union has written to the civil service minister, Doris Bures, asking to pay negotiations to commence. The union wants to ensure that negotiations take place in good time so that the annual pay increase for public sector workers can be implemented on 1 January 2008. As usual the union is calling for the negotiations to take account of economic growth and inflation. The union has welcomed a comment from social minister Erwin Buchinger suggesting that workers should expect a pay increase of 4%. The pay negotiations affect 450,000 civil servants and employees in national, regional and local government. Read more at > GÖD (DE)

Trade unions and employers agree €1,000 minimum wage

The ÖGB trade union confederation has signed an agreement with the WKÖ employers’ organisation establishing a €1,000 as the minimum monthly pay for full-time workers. There is no statutory minimum wage in Austria and the trade unions have not been calling for one because of the very high coverage of collective agreements. This new agreement will be implemented through collective bargaining mainly at sector level. Workers currently earning less than €1,000 but more than €900 should see their pay increase to €1,000 by 1 January 2008. Those currently earning between €800 and €900 will get €1,000 a month by 1 January 2009. Read more at > ÖGB (DE)

Campaign for higher pay for doctors’ employees

The GPA-DJP trade union has launched a campaign to win better pay and conditions for workers in doctors’ surgeries. The union is calling for a €1,100 minimum monthly salary for the workers who currently have a starting salary of around €800 for a 40-hour week. The union points out that receptionists in doctors’ surgeries have a demanding job, having to combine administrative, social and medical skills. Read more at > GPD-DJP (DE)

Working time deal negotiated

Trade unions have resisted employer demands for longer working hours in recent negotiations over a new working time package that also allows for part time workers to get paid for extra working hours. Unions believe that this will not only improve the possibility of part-time workers, the vast majority of whom are women, to work longer hours but also will reduce the likelihood that employers will try to replace full-time workers with part timers. There are a number of other provisions in the agreement including greater flexibility over overtime and other arrangements that can be agreed at more local levels and even with individual workers. Read more at > GDG

2.55% increase in private electricity suppliers

Employees of private electricity companies see their pay and allowances increase by 2.55% as from 1 February. They also get a €200 lump sum payment and manual workers covered by the agreement will move to a new pay structure in July. The latest figure for inflation in Austria is 1.5% in the year to December 2006. This was also the average rate of inflation in 2006. Read more at > GPA-JDP (DE)

Federal IT workers get 2.5% for 2007

The 1,000 workers at the federal computer centre, BRZ, will see their pay increase by 2.5% from 1 January which is just ahead of the 2.35% that was negotiated for the rest of the public sector. Read more at > GÖD (DE)

Real pay increase for health and social care workers

The 70,000 workers covered by the health and social care collective agreement will get a 2.4% pay increase from January 2007, ahead of the current inflation rate of 1.1%. The agreement is extended to cover even those employers who are not part of the health and social care employers’ organisation that negotiated the deal. The agreement is the biggest negotiated by the GPA-DJP (the private employees’ union that has just merged with the print, journalists and paper union) and covers the disabled, elderly and child care sectors as well as youth welfare organisations. Read more at > GPA-DJP (DE)

2.35% pay increase in Austrian public sector

Negotiations over the 2007 pay increase for the Austrian public sector - at federal, regional and local level, were completed earlier this month and salaries and allowances will increase by 2.35% from 1 January 2007. This is above the current level of inflation (the latest figure is 1.4% in the year to September). The pay increase from 1 January 2006 was 2.7% and from 1 January 2005 2.3% which exactly matched the inflation figure for that year. The negotiated pay increase in 2004 at 1.85% was below inflation for that year (2.1%). Read more at > GdG (EN)

Hospital workers march to regional government

Around 1500 healthworkers from St.Johanns Hospital in Salzburg marched to the regional government building to support their campaign for proper recognition of the value of the work they do, better pay and more staff. The GÖD union hopes that the demonstration will bring the regional government back to the negotiating table and help resolve the dispute that has been going on for some months. Read more at > GÖD (DE)

Pay round gets under way

The autumn pay round has got under way with the GMT metal and textile union and GPA private employees’ union beginning their negotiations in the metal and energy sectors. The GDG is also preparing for negotiations in the public sector. As background the GDG notes recent tax cuts for the rich, record company profits and public sector workers unable to take on a greater workload. In view of these factors the union has said it won’t be satisfied with arguments from employers about the need to make savings. The GDG expressed its solidarity with the GMT and GPA in their attempts to get a fair share in their current negotations. Negotiations in the gas and heating industries have been broken off. Unions are unhappy with the latest offer from the employers of a 2.3% pay increase and unspecified lump sum. Read more at > GDG (DE) And at > GPA (DE)

Unions want shorter working hours for hospital doctors

The GdG trade union has called for the Working Time Directive’s maximum of 48 hours a week to be applied to doctors. The union argues that more doctors should be employed in order to reduce individual working hours and warns that the definition of inactive hours that might become part of the revised directive will make matters worse for doctors. The union says that patients’ interests should be central to this issue and they should have the right to be treated by doctors who work normal hours not who have been exhausted by excessively long shifts. Read more at > GdG (DE)

Call for proper funding and minimum standards in care sector

The public service union and the GPA private employees union, which organises workers in the private care sector, are calling for proper funding for the care sector. They say that all care workers, whether Austrian or migrant workers, need the protection of minimum standards and have the right to proper pay and conditions. The unions argue that care services often rely on illegal workers and to remove them from the system would lead to its collapse. Read more at > GÖD (DE) And at > GPA (DE)

Survey of health and social services workers

The GPA private sector employees’ union is carrying out a survey of workers in the health and social services sector to find out the extent to which they are physically and mentally burnt out by their work. The union believes that the exhaustion characteristic of “burn-out” syndrome is common among workers whose jobs mainly involve dealing with other people. There are around 300,000 employees in the sector and the union hopes that the online survey results will help it formulate demands for future collective bargaining and give members and works council members ideas for improving their situation at work. Read more at > GPA (DE)

New right to part-time work

After lengthy negotiations civil servants and employees of the Vienna municipality have the right to switch to part-time work to help them looking after their children up to the age of seven. In the child’s first four years, the parent can cut their hours by at least a quarter and up to three quarters. During the next three years the maximum working time reduction is half of normal hours. This entitlement applies to all employees and civil servants with at least three years’ service. Read more at > GDG

Union rejects further privatisation

The GDG municipal union has reacted angrily over plans by the Vienna local authority to outsource services such as refuse collection and parks maintenance. The union is particularly disappointed about the authority’s plans since it had worked with the union in opposition to the Services Directive. The union is also angry that the Vienna municipality had not consulted with it over the proposals. Read more at > GDG

2.7% for public sector workers

The annual pay negotiations for federal, regional and local government workers were concluded earlier this month with a 2.7% pay increase due from 1 January 2006. Last year’s pay award was 2.3%. Inflation over the year has averaged 2.4% but it is forecast to fall to 2.0% in 2006. Read more at > GDG

Threat to jobs interrupts pay negotiations

Public service unions in Austria have interrupted their annual pay negotiations with the government. The unions are angry over the threat to 15,667 jobs at federal, regional and local level as a result of government reforms. The unions are challenging the government over the question of how quality of public service can be guaranteed in the light of such large job cuts. Read more at > EPSU Read more at > GOED Read more at > GDG

Latest on negotiations

Pay negotiations covering the Austrian public sector are set to continue with a debate on the use of statistics with key figures being current economic growth but forecasts of inflation for the coming year. The annual negotiations normal set an overall percentage pay increase that takes effect on 1 January and covers the calendar year. Inflation is currently on an upward trend and the metalworkers, in a key agreement, recently settled for a 3.1% increase for 2006. Read more at > GDG Read more at > GöD

Unions gear up for annual pay negotiations

Public service union GÖD will be involved in the annual pay negotiations shortly. It has already written to the government to try to ensure that the negotiations are dealt with promptly so that the pay increase can take effect from 1 January 2006. As usual the union will be aiming for an increase which compensates for inflation, taking account of overall economic growth. Read more at > GÖD