Health and care unions call for action on training

Austria

The four trade unions representing health and social care workers in the public and private sectors – younion, GÖD, vida and GPA-djp – have written an open letter to national and regional governments calling for urgent action on training. The unions say that an additional 75000 trained workers will be need in the sectors by 2030 and that measures need to be taken to increase the number of trainees to help meet the demand. Unlike other professions, health and care trainees are not paid when they are working on the job during their training. The unions argue that this is a major disincentive to workers to undertake and complete the necessary training. While some health and care providers try to provide some payment, the unions argue that this is not enough a national training fund is needed into which public and private providers pay to provide the support that trainees need. The unions acknowledge that a lot more needs to be done to tackle staff shortages but this boost to training would be a crucial first step.

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