Austrian Affiliates Take ÖGB Debate to Global Level

The Austrian national labour centre ÖGB has been asking, as part of an ongoing reform process, the opinion of its members on how they see their union and what they expect from it. Questions range from, “Are you satisfied with your union?” to “What benefits are you getting/needing from the union?” and “What do you think should be our priorities?”

Both ICEM affiliates in Austria, the Gewerkschaft der Chemiearbeiter (GdC) and the Gewerkschaft Metall-Textil-Nahrung (GMTN), took an active part in the ÖGB poll, seeking to highlight a number of issues that they feel are particularly important.

          

To that effect, a joint statement was released, co-signed by another Austrian union, Gewerkschaft Bau-Holz (GBH), with whom the two unions have been operating jointly as “pro.ge.” (Pro.ge stands for short for “Produktionsgewerkschaften in den Bereichen Produktion, Technik und nahe Dienstleistungen.”)

According to the three organisations, there is a need to organise differently the work done by trade unions in Austria, as the playing field has changed. The world-wide activities of multinational corporations, as well as the ever changing employer-employee relationships are cited as part of that.

In their joint statement, emphasis was placed on the need to support workers in all forms of atypical work, on the urgency in getting more women involved in trade union work, and on the necessity to cooperate more strongly on the international level, with other trade unions and members of civil society.