Working Time, Early Childhood Education and Care, Austria
Unions secure 9%+ pay increases for Red Cross workers
The vida and GPA private services unions have negotiated a new collective agreement covering the 7,000 employees in the regional associations of the Austrian Red Cross. All employees in the framework collective agreement will get a 9.15% increase while all employees in the new collective agreement section B and in the province of Vienna will get 9.2%. The increases are backdated to 1 January 2024. The collective agreement ensures that important provisions that previously differed from one province to another have now been successfully harmonised across the country, with a normal working week
Unions deliver pay demands in private health and social care
The vida and GPA trade unions have initiated negotiations in the private health and social care sector with a demand for a 15% pay increase with a minimum of €400. The sector employs 130000 workers and the unions are calling for action to address the fact that pay is on average 22% below national average earnings. GPA and vida also argue that the public funding is there and that employers in the sector need to ensure they get the support from government to cover the pay rises and to ensure the sector is more attractive and help tackle staffing shortages. In addition to pay, the unions are also
Negotiations begin over collective agreement for church hospitals
The vida trade union and the Chamber of Doctors have begun negotiations with the church-based hospitals in the Carinthia region to update the collective agreement covering around 1600 workers. The first bargaining round took place on 2 August and negotiations will resume on 29 September. The agreement has not been properly updated for 30 years and the union is pushing for major revisions that will improve pay and conditions and make work in the sector more attractive. The union has set out over 40 areas of potential revision covering working time, leave arrangements, sabbaticals and training
Workers in church-run care homes get 8% pay increase and cut in hours
After six months of negotiations, workers in church-run elderly care and nursing homes will get an 8% pay increase, along with a cost-of-living bonus of €1500 and a one-hour reduction in weekly working hours to 39 hours. The agreement covers around 3600 employees and the new monthly minimum wage will be set at €1850.76. The 8% increase translates into a 10.65% increase once the one-hour cut is taken into account. The vida trade union negotiated the agreement which it sees as bringing the church-based employer more in line with other collective agreements in the sector although it argues that
Health initiative blocked in parliament
The younion trade union reports that a trade union-backed petition calling for better pay and conditions in healthcare has been blocked by a parliamentary committee. The citizens' initiative, supported by over 70,000 signatories, called for action on the major problems facing the sector, including a demand for more training and better pay for trainees, a national assessment of staffing needs and recognition of nursing as an arduous occupation. The parliamentary committee on petitions and citizens' initiatives decided no further action would be taken in response to the petition, despite the
Health and care unions present ambitious bargaining demands
The vida and GPA services unions have just launched their main demands in the “social economy” sector negotiations that cover 130,000 in private health and social care. The unions are calling for a pay increase that not only covers inflation (currently topping 9%), but also takes into account the hard work put in by employees over the past year. The unions also want to see more staff recruited and more free time, with the pandemic exposing the impact of staff shortages. They have a range of specific demands relating to overtime, job classifications and mileage allowances – all elements that
Unions condemn government proposals on childcare
Public and private sector unions representing workers in early years education, younion and GPA, have attacked government plans for the sector as farcical. They argue that the claim that there will be an extra billion euros in funding is a sham and that in reality the additional money is less than €60 million and already worth less because of inflation. The unions are also concerned that the aim is to create more childcare places when facilities are already full and staff overstretched. They also criticise the government for developing policies without proper consultation and negotiation with
Unions call for better pay for early years education workers
The GPA and vida private service trade unions organised an action in Vienna on 29 March as part of their campaign to win better pay and conditions for workers in early years education. Along with better pay to help attract new staff the unions want action to reduce workloads, improve staff:child ratios and major investment in training. GPA and vida underline the need for national initiatives on pay structure and funding to reduce the different approaches from region to region.
National action in early years education
Younion, representing staff in early years education and care (ECEC) in the public sector is organising protests across the country on 21 March in its continuing campaign to win improvements to the pay and conditions of workers in the sector. The union wants to see administrative tasks reduced and more support staff recruited to give workers more time with the children in their care. The other key demands cover increased recruitment overall, improved training, proper recognition of work in the sector, recognition of COVID-19 as an occupational disease and better representation of workers and
Unions in joint call for action on childcare staffing
The public and private sectors unions representing staff in early years education (younion, vida and GPA) have come together to demand action at national level on staffing and safety in childcare institutions. The unions want to see unified, national regulations applied on issues like COVID-19 and increased staffing to ensure that childcare institutions can maintain safety for both workers and children. The pandemic is still having an impact and with staff falling ill or having to quarantine, the pressure of work continues to increase for an already overburdened group of workers.
Pay rise for childcare workers as health and social care staff get 37-hour week
Childcare workers in the private sector who are covered by pay regulations rather than a collective agreement are getting a 3.2% pay increase following negotiations led by the GPA and vida trade unions. Meanwhile, full-time workers in private health and social care are now entitled to a 37-hour week as of 1 January. This was the result of earlier negotiations by the GPA and vida unions and reflects their long-running campaign to tackle overwork in the sectors. The unions are also determined to continue their efforts to reduce working time with a target of a 35-hour week.
Childcare workers get their message across
Around 5000 workers in early years education joined a noisy demonstration outside the education ministry on 14 October. The protest covered both public and private sectors and was organised by the younion, vida and GPA trade unions, with the support of the ÖGB trade union confederation. The unions have been frustrated by the ministry’s refusal to invite them onto the advisory board that debates key issues affecting the sector. However, the protest had one immediate result in that the unions were invited to the next meeting. More broadly the unions used the demonstration to set out their key
Union puts four-day week on collective bargaining agenda
The GPA private services union is calling for the adoption of a four-day week across its sectors and will raise this in the upcoming autumn bargaining round. Noting the success of the four-day week in Iceland and the establishment of the right to a four-day week in the retail sector in Austria, the GPA argues that the employers need to see the positive impact on productivity, while workers will get the benefit of better work-life balance. The union also underlines the potential for the four-day week to impact on climate change through its effect on commuting patterns.
Unions publish joint open letter on early years education
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