Solidarity, COVID-19, Austria

The GPA and vida trade unions that organise in private health and social care have launched a new campaign, “Words are not enough” with the support of their confederation, the ÖGB. The unions are calling for increased funding for the sectors to improve pay and conditions, increase staffing by at least 20000, reduce workloads and provide a further COVID bonus and additional time off. The unions say that applause and praise for health and social care staff is not enough and action is needed to increase the funding that covers private health and social care.

The GPA services union is determined to hold the government to account over the EUR 500 Corona bonus promised to nurses in June. The union joined with other trade unions in successfully calling for the bonus to be extended to other workers but is still concerned that it will not be available to all in the social care sector. However, the GPA is angry that three months on the bonus has not been paid and there is still lack of clarity over who is entitled. The union complains of the lack of respect for the workers who have been exposed to extreme stress and heavy workloads for months and deserve

The trade unions representing workers in early years education from the public (younion) and private sectors (vida and GPA-djp) have joined with the trade union confederation (ÖGB) in publishing an open letter setting five key questions for the government to answer. In the light of the continuing pandemic and the challenges faced by workers in the sector so far, the unions want to know about plans for nationwide COVID testing; what regulations will apply on vaccination of staff; what measures are planned to contain the virus; when workers will receive a bonus for the extra efforts they have

Unions representing workers in health and social care are continuing to campaign to ensure that all employees get the EUR 500 corona-bonus that the government promised last month. Initially restricted to doctors and nurses, unions were successful in getting the payment extended to more occupations in health and social care but they still feel that this is unfair. They point out, for example, that those working for the disabled as well as cleaning and security staff are excluded despite facing similar risks and being integral to the team work necessary to tackle the pandemic.

The younion and GÖD public sector unions, representing around 120000 workers in health and social care have called on the Austrian Chancellor to stand by his commitment to improve pay for those working in intensive care during the pandemic. The two unions underline that their demand covers all health and care workers, not just intensive care staff, as they are all part of an essential team and need to work together to deliver care and who have endured significant physical and mental challenges in maintaining services. Younion and GÖD are calling for a tax-free €1000 bonus for all health and

For the first time in 40 years trade unions and employers have negotiated a cross-sector collective agreement. The agreement includes rules for tests for COVID-19 and for mask-wearing at work. It says that employees who require a negative test for their work can have this arranged during working hours or the time taken for any test carried out before or after work will be counted as working time. The agreement also guarantees protection – no dismissal or detriment – where employees test positive for the virus. Employees who are obliged to wear masks at work are entitled to a 10-minute break

The vida trade union which represents workers in private health and social care has criticised the government for saying that workers infected with COVID-19 should continue to work. The union sees this as a panic reaction to the increased pressure on services and insists that workers and patients need protecting and those infected or who need to quarantine should not go to work. Vida also wants to see testing extended to all workers including emergency service staff and other mobile workers and underlines that tests, including travel to and from test facilities, should be carried out during

Public services union younion joined with the GPA-djp and vida private services unions in a protest outside a meeting of the advisory council on early years education. Supported by the ÖGB confederation and Chamber of Labour, the unions expressed their disappointment that they weren't involved in the council which was set to make important recommendations that would affect the 61500 workers in the sector. The unions argue that the COVID-19 pandemic has underlined the importance of the sector and are calling for national quality standards, including staffing levels, to be introduced to end the

Following negotiations with the younion public services union, the city authorities in Vienna have agreed to an additional 1000 jobs in health care to help cope with the continuing pandemic. The union underlines the fact that the social partnership between the union and the city authorities means that problems around staffing can be regularly discussed and resolved. Two specific areas that will benefit are health information and advice services that will get 150 new posts and emergency services where 75 new jobs will be allocated. Younion believes that Vienna is setting an important example

In anticipation of annual pay negotiations, the GÖD public service union has written to the government calling for sustained, real increases in pay and allowances for all public sector workers. The union argues that public employees have faced increasingly difficult working conditions as they have responded to the pandemic and its knock-on effects on employment and the economy by maintaining quality public services. The union points out the importance of public services to support Austria as a successful international economy and that a pay rise for the public sector would make an important

The vida trade union has criticised employers in private health institutions for unilaterally postponing negotiations until September. The union argues that this leaves workers paying the price and that rather than COVID-19 being used as an excuse for suspending negotiations it should be a good reason for a quick settlement to compensate for inflation and with an increased allowance for dangerous work. There have been actions around the country on the issue and the union will be looking for workers to put more pressure on employers to resume negotiations.

The vida and GPA-djp private services unions have called on the government to take a national approach to regulations on childcare as institutions try to get to grips with rules on safety that vary across the country. The unions are concerned that proper measures are in place to protect workers and children but they have had reports of regional authorities applying different rules on face masks as well as recommending different staff:children ratios. In the meantime, the two unions are also pushing for a new collective agreement covering around 15000 health and care staff at the non-profit

The vida and GPA-djp services unions have negotiated a pay and hours deal for 125000 workers in the private health and social care sector. Pay will increase by 2.7% this year backdated to 1 February and then by inflation plus 0.6% from 1 January 2021. The unions had been demanding a 35-hour week for all workers in the sector and this remains a target. The new agreement, however, does provide for a 37-hour week from 1 January 2022. With weekly pay staying the same for full-time workers this will mean a higher hourly rate and part-time workers will be compensated with an additional increase of 2