Chamber for workers and employees for Lower Austria

Chamber for workers and employees for Lower Austria

chamber
Organizational form	Corporation under public law
founding year	1948
Seat	St. Polten
Homepage	http://noe.arbeiterkammer.at
president	Markus Wieser
Chief Executive	Bettina Heise
Members
Associated	554,000 (as of 2018)
General Assembly	110 councilors
Bureau	4 vice presidents + 1 president
voter turnout	38.0% (election 2019)
Key figures
Number of managers	1 director + 2 vice directors
Number of employees	440 (as of 2017)
Contribution amount	71.4 million euros
Total assets	75.6 million euros

The Chamber for Workers and Salaried Employees for Lower Austria (other spellings: AK Niederösterreich, Chamber of Labor Lower Austria, Lower Austrian Chamber of Labor, Lower Austria Chamber of Labor) is the legal representation of the interests of around 554,000 (as of 2018) employees in Lower Austria. AK Niederösterreich has 21 district offices and 3 service points as well as the headquarters in St. Pölten .

Areas of responsibility

The AK Lower Austria and the Federal Chamber as a national umbrella organization set as a legal advocacy together with the Austrian Trade Union Federation (OGB) and the craft unions within the social partnership , the rights of workers by. Their main task is to provide competent advice and legal representation for their 549,000 members and their social security in working life, in the event of illness, accident, need for care, unemployment and retirement. The Chamber of Labor advocates the protection and strengthening of consumer rights and optimal educational opportunities for everyone. The focus is on distributive justice and participation of working people in increasing prosperity, and equal opportunities in working life and in access to the labor market and education.

Political work

In addition to the Presidium and the Board of Directors, the committees and the chamber councils in particular do political work for the employees. You will be supported by the Chamber Office's experts in representing your interests.

legislation

The AK Niederösterreich also works with the development of laws within the framework of the social partnership. In their interest-political activities, the experts in the chamber office examine draft laws of the state and federal government with the aim of achieving improvements for employees. In addition, the AK Niederösterreich formulates its own legislative proposals.

administration

As part of the administration, the experts from AK Niederösterreich represent the interests of employees by monitoring employee protection institutions. In addition, representatives, experts and chamber councils of the AKNÖ participate in commissions, boards and advisory boards. Another area of responsibility of the experts at the Lower Austrian Chamber of Labor is the assessment of regulations.

jurisdiction

In addition to participating in the legislative process and the administration, the AK Niederösterreich participates in the jurisdiction. The AK Niederösterreich makes suggestions for lay judges at labor and social courts as well as for assessors at the cartel court.

Organization and structure

Every five years, the Lower Austrian employees elect 110 councilors. The Chamber Councils meet twice a year in the General Assembly to formulate the Chamber of Labor's positions on current interest-political developments. The decisions of the General Assembly in the form of resolutions provide the political framework for the activities of the Chamber of Labor. In the constituent plenary assembly, the chamber councils elect the presidium and the other members of the board from among their ranks. In the board of directors, among other things, the general assemblies are prepared, the annual budget and the accounts are approved, and the implementation of larger projects by the Chamber of Labor is decided. The board of directors sets up committees to support its work. These committees, organized according to subject areas, prepare and advise, among other things, statements on draft legislation and ordinances. The chamber councils are supported by the chamber office experts. In contrast, the specialist committees are structured according to specific employee groups. Employees who do not have a mandate as a chamber council can also work in specialist committees. The control committee controls the conduct of the Chamber of Labor for compliance with the legal framework. The Lower Austrian Chamber of Labor consists of 440 employees, 330 of them experts, who, under the leadership of the director and his deputy, prepare the fundamental decisions and implement the programs and projects that have been decided. Political interests and advising members are the main focus of the Chamber Office's activities.

Achievements and successes

In 2018, the Chamber of Labor's 330 experts secured around 82.2 million euros directly for employees. In total, the experts at AK Niederösterreich carried out 238,000 consultations on labor and social law, consumer protection, tax law, in the education sector and for works councils. They had to go to court for the members 2,600 times under labor and social law. They had to represent members 5,500 times when a company went bankrupt. 1,600 members redeemed the AK education bonus and the AK education bonus special. More than 38,000 people, including more than 34,000 young people, were reached with career information fairs, application training and other educational opportunities. The specialists of AK Niederösterreich examined 342 laws and ordinances and thus represented the interests of the employees.

Current topics

The Chamber of Labor will expand its services in the future so that new offers will be available in the key areas of education, care and living. In addition, a major digitization offensive is starting to make employees fit for the future - 150 million euros will be available throughout Austria for the next five years. The digitization offensive as the heart of the future program gives confidence: the Lower Austrians should become “digitization winners” and benefit from digital change just as the economy does. Almost 5 million euros will be invested in a project fund and a qualification fund for further training activities in Lower Austria in 2019 in order to strengthen the skills of employees. More than 38,000 people, including more than 34,000 young people, were reached with career information fairs, application training and other educational opportunities. The specialists of AK Niederösterreich examined 342 laws and ordinances and thus represented the interests of the employees.

history

On July 20, 1945, the provisional Austrian government decided to re-establish the Chamber for Workers and Salaried Employees. This decision meant de facto the restoration of the legal situation of 1920/21. For the federal states of Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland, a joint chamber for blue-collar and white-collar workers was installed analogous to the Chamber of Commerce. On August 25, 1945, the first plenary meeting of the Chamber for Workers and Salaried Employees for Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland took place.

The first step towards creating a separate chamber for workers and employees for Lower Austria was taken on May 22nd, 1947 with the constituent meeting of the “Regional Group for Lower Austria” within the Chamber of Labor for Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland. After a short time it became clear that the structure of a separate regional group would lead to an independent regional chamber in the foreseeable future. Finally, on October 6, 1948, the Chamber for Workers and Salaried Employees for Lower Austria was constituted in the large meeting room of the Lower Austrian Landhaus in the presence of Federal President Karl Renner , Federal Chancellor Leopold Figl and representatives of the Soviet occupying power. The first president of the Lower Austrian Chamber of Labor was Josef Fuchs . One year after the constituent general assembly, the first free chamber elections were held on October 23 and 24, 1949. The election of the plenary assembly took place in three electoral bodies: blue-collar workers, white-collar workers and traffic officials. Of 112 chamber councilors , 79 mandates were held by the SPÖ , 18 by the ÖVP and 15 by the KPÖ . 183,731 Lower Austrian employees were entitled to vote.

In these first post-war years during the occupation, AK Niederösterreich tried to reintegrate war returnees into the work process, created its own advice centers and the opportunity to catch up on educational qualifications. After the elections in 1949, the Austrian Chambers of Labor based their area of responsibility primarily on two economic principles: full employment and consideration of consumer interests . After the build-up phase in the chambers of labor, there was a need to re-regulate the competencies and tasks of the AK. With the new Chamber of Labor Act 1954, areas of responsibility for the chambers were defined. The federal and state governments were obliged to obtain statements from the AK on draft laws. The AK received the legal competence to participate in questions of apprenticeship training. For the first time, advising and supporting the works councils was anchored in law as a task. Furthermore, an obligation to provide information between the chambers of labor , social insurance, other chambers and ministries was established. The affiliation to other groups of employees was also anchored, as was the internal structure according to three electoral bodies: workers, employees and transport employees. The sections with separate representative bodies and managements that had existed since 1921 were replaced by a full assembly of all chamber councils. The Austrian Chamber of Labor - as the "umbrella organization" for all chambers of labor - was now given the status of a public corporation with its own organs.

From the 1960s onwards, the representation of interests and the services of AK Niederösterreich took into account the economic development. In the 1990s, new forms of employment were established on the labor market, which are summarized under the term of precarious work . The economic developments and structural changes led to an increasing number of labor and social law consultations and judicial representations and an expansion of mobile advice, telephone advice, training and further training for works councils, price monitoring and quality tests. The interest policy focused on the structural weaknesses of the Lower Austrian districts, as well as on measures to remedy regional weaknesses. In order to meet the increasing requirements for advice and information from members, AK Niederösterreich began renovating old district offices in the early 1990s.

Image-damaging incidents such as the Rechberger case and a 48% decrease in voter turnout in the AK elections of 1989 led to a legitimacy crisis and indicated a need for reform in the chambers of labor. The increased political reform pressure on the employee representatives subsequently led to a comprehensive reform of the chambers, which brought about an expansion of services. Among other things, the statutory right to legal protection in labor and social law has been introduced and more transparency has been ensured through the introduction of an internal chamber control committee, audits of the Court of Auditors and the supervisory law of the labor and social minister. As instruments of direct democracy, members were given the right to information, motion and petition in the now public general assemblies. In addition, cooperation with trade unions and works councils has also been reorganized.

Despite the reforms in 1992, the 1994 AK election ended with an extremely low turnout of only 33.5% of the 430,604 eligible voters. Discussions about compulsory membership followed, and in the 1994 government agreement, the governing parties called on the legal representatives to question their members. The AK Niederösterreich carried out the survey in 1996 in companies and production sites and 200 public voting centers as well as with flying election commissions. The participation in Lower Austria was 69.29% and the approval of the AK was 91.78%. The focus of the subsequent AK law amendment in 1998 was to make it easier for members to vote. Thus, among other things, the possibility of postal voting was created and it was decided to extend the voting period to a maximum of three weeks.

In 1995 Austria joined the European Union , which also had a decisive influence on the economic development of Lower Austria. In the run-up to the referendum on Austria's accession to the EU in 1994, AKNÖ representatives discussed the advantages and disadvantages of accession at surveys, in companies and at other events with employees. Finally, the YES of the employee representatives to Austria's accession to the EU followed a wait-and-see attitude. AK Niederösterreich representatives were involved in the accession negotiations. The fight of the Chamber of Labor against the deterioration of the framework conditions for the employees resulted in the AK election in 2000 in an increased turnout of over 50.8% of the 381,435 eligible voters. Strengthened by this election result, the Chamber of Labor launched the “AK plus” reform program in 2001, which provided for investments of 11 million euros in new offers for employees until 2004, such as consumer legal protection, a 100 euros education bonus for IT and language courses and offers for returnees.

A modernized Internet information portal as well as placement foundations, tax saving weeks (help with employee assessment ) in the district offices , occupational and sports medical check-ups, an educational center in Hirschwang were created. The service offensive of the Chamber of Labor since 2001 was faced with an increasingly difficult political struggle for the interests of employees. On May 1, 2004, the states of Estonia , Latvia , Lithuania , Poland , the Czech Republic , Slovakia , Hungary , Slovenia , Malta and Cyprus joined the European Union. In this context, the AKNÖ advocated transitional regulations for the free movement of the labor market and services that would apply until 2011. In the 2004 AK election, the turnout in Lower Austria rose again to over 54.6%. The reconstruction and new building of the district offices, which began in the 1990s, entered the final phase. In 2007 the chambers and the social partnership were anchored in constitutional law.

Bureau

The president is Markus Wieser ( FSG ). The vice-president is Gerda Schilcher (FSG), Michael Fiala (FSG), Josef Hager ( Lower Austria AAB-FCG ) and Horst Pammer (FSG).

Elections 2019

488,839 employees were entitled to vote. A total of 185,894 votes were cast. The voter turnout is 38.0%. The parliamentary group of social democratic trade unionists (FSG) achieved an absolute majority with 70 out of 110 mandates in the general assembly of AK Niederösterreich. The People's Party NÖAAB-FCG won 24 mandates, the Freedom Workers 11 mandates, the AUGE / UG three mandates, the Green trade unionists Lower Austria one mandate and the LISTE PERSPEKTIVE - Ing.Yusuf Avci (LP) one mandate.

financing

The AK is only financed by its members and is therefore only obliged to the members. The AK contribution for a middle income is around 7 euros net per month. The maximum AK contribution is around 15 euros net per month.

District and service points

District offices

Amstetten
to bathe
Gänserndorf
Gmuend
Hainburg
Hollabrunn
horn
Korneuburg
Krems
Lily field
Melk
Mistelbach
Mödling
Neunkirchen
Scheibbs
Schwechat
St. Polten
Tulln
Waidhofen
Wr. Neustadt
Zwettl

Service points

Shopping City South
Schwechat Airport
Service center Vienna

Web links

swell

Federal law on the chambers for workers and salaried employees (Chamber of Labor Act 1992 - AKG) (PDF file; 886 kB)
Annual report 2017 (PDF file; 5.3 MB)
AK Lower Austria organization chart (PDF file; 257 kB)