Social Services, Health and Safety, Precarious employment, Austria

(June 2016) The vida and GPA-djp service unions have negotiated a new collective agreement with private employers in the spa and rehabilitation sector and includes a 1.3% pay increase from 1 July with a backdated lump sum of EUR 220 to cover the period October 2015 to June 2016. The agreement runs until the end of 2017 and includes a further pay increase on 1 January 2017 that will be based on the average inflation rate between October 2015 and November 2016. The trade unions and employers emphasised the importance of an effective social dialogue in delivering results for both employees and

(October 2016) Unions organising in the private social care sector (vida and GPA-djp) delivered a 6.4 km scarf to the finance ministry to make their point about the need for more social warmth. The scarf was knitted by unions members and some of the peopel they care for and the messages from the unions was that the sector needs increased funding and action to tackle below average earnings, inadequate staffing, irregular working hours and excessive physical and mental burdens.

(October 2016) Services union vida is calling for urgent action to tackle serious understaffing in health and social care. The union says that lack of finance often means that while demand has increased significantly while employment has remained the same or even fallen. Employees are overworked and around 30% of workers in the sector are at risk of burnout.Vida wants to see statutory minimum staffing levels for health and social care taking out also of qualifications.

(December 2016) The minimum wage for childcare assistants in private sector institutions will increase by 2.3% from 1 January 2017, reports the vida services union. This will take the minimum monthly wage to EUR 1469, a further step towards the union target of EUR 1500. The rate was negotiated with the federal administration and will apply to around 5300 workers across the country.

(January 2017) The vida private services union is calling for a EUR 1500 minimum wage in collective agreements across the private sector. The union says that over 350000 workers are covered by collective agreements where the minimum wage is below EUR 1500, two thirds of these workers are women. The agreements include some in the private care and health service sectors. Once the EUR 1500 is reached then the next step will the the EUR 1700 target set by the OEGB trade union confederation.

(February 2017) The vida and GPA-djp service unions have negotiated a new agreement covering 5000 workers employed by Diakonie Austria, the church-based care provider. The pay increase of 1.9% is ahead of the 0.9% average inflation rate recorded in 2016. In addition there are improvements to and protection of the rights of workers taking parental leave which the unions say will particularly benefit the significant number of part-time women workers with childcare needs.

(April 2017) Services union vida is continuing its campaign to secure federally agreed minimum staffing levels in the health and care sectors. The union took part in a parliamentary hearing on the future of care and said that increasing patient numbers and widespread staffing shortages were creating major problems. Increase workloads were putting pressure on staff who are often stressed and overworked, posing a threat to the quality of care.

(May 2017) The four unions that organise care workers in the public (GÖD and younion) and private (vida and GPA-djp) sectors have come together to organise a national demonstration on 12 May. The key demands of the protest are for better funding for care and action to deal with the excessive workloads, stress and long working hours of many care workers. The unions want to see action to tackle staff shortages and national legislation on staffing levels.

Younion, representing municipal workers in Austria has launched a petition calling for support for childcare workers in the Lower Austria region. The union highlights the significant increase in responsibilities and workloads for these workers and the key demands being put forward are: improvements in the quality and quantity of education; more opportunities for training and further education; creation of a clear career path; and pay in line with the demands of the job. EPSU has also collected together news of other recent initiatives by childcare unions.

The GPA-djp private services union is campaigning to defend workers' rights on working time and against pressure from employers for more flexibility in working time legislation and a move to a 12-hour maximum working day. The union points out that Austrian workers already have a 41.5-hour working week on average, among the highest in Europe, and often have to work overtime at short notice. The GPA-djp also highlights the evidence of increased health and safety risks once the working day goes over nine hours.

The GPA-djp has launched a campaign in protest against a decision by the non-profit pro mente rehabilitation company to apply a poorer collective agreement to all new employees from November this year. The union says that the move from the SWÖ (Austrian social economy) agreement to the Cure and Rehabilitation agreement will mean a massive deterioration of pay and employment conditions for the workers affected. The GPA-djp has set up an online petition to support the campaign.

The GPA-djp and vida private service trade unions met with the private care employers' organisation (SWÖ) to highlight the major staffing challenge facing the sector and the urgent need for additional funding to cover better pay and conditions to increase recruitment to the sector. The unions underlined the impact of serious staff shortages that are leading to increased workloads, burnout and stress for many care workers. They want to see legally enforceable staffing levels, that set minimum standards both in terms of numbers of staff with the appropriate qualifications.

The public services trade union, younion, collected 15000 signatures in a petition that it handed in to the parliament of the region of Lower Austria on 10 October. The petition calls for action to deal with the pay and working conditions of the 3000 childcare workers in the region. The union wants to see improvements to education and training in the sector as well as the development of a proper career structure. It is also calling for pay to be commensurate with the responsibilities and demands of the job. The union is expecting to be able to negotiate soon, although there is no offer on this

Leaders of the GÖD and younion public service unions have taken part in the first two round of negotiations over the pay increase for 2018. The unions are calling for an above-inflation increase that reflects the increased workload and performance of public service workers. The level of the increase will be negotiated in the framework of positive growth in the economy (2.8%) and an inflation rate of just under 1.9%.