Concern About Social Partnership at ÖGB Boss

The question arises of how interest organizations, established for decades, can "initiate renewal processes and innovations from within themselves."

"Quite Committed Forces"

"Certain developments that one might not have imagined 20 years ago must still be carried out due to changed conditions," said the head of the trade union federation to the newspaper. However, he sees "quite committed forces" in the Chamber of Commerce who want to bring about change. A general problem is public perception: "Every day, reports from the economy suggest that everything is going downhill. This affects business people. It would help the social partnership if there were more reliability and less alarmism on the business side."

Regarding the collective bargaining negotiations, Katzian said that in exceptional cases, during a bleak economic situation, rolling inflation does not have to be compensated - as was recently the case with the metalworkers. "This has happened repeatedly in history. In a difficult situation - and Austria is in the third year of an industrial recession - one tries to see if a crisis settlement can help." However, it must be clear: "These decisions are certainly not a model for everything else." Wage restraint also harms the budget in the long run because it dampens consumption and thus generates less tax revenue.

Trefelik Also Commented

Reforms in the Chamber of Commerce are also considered necessary by WKÖ trade chairman Rainer Trefelik. In an interview with the "Presse" (Thursday edition), he expressed openness to discussing the necessity of the regional chambers but warned against judging "the reality in the federal states" from the "Vienna bubble." "Regionally rooted contacts are important. Tasks need to be redistributed, no question. But to say we abolish everything and create a central office that explains everything to everyone - I consider that dangerously simplistic." However, Trefelik did not want to comment further on the discussion about abolishing Chamber Levy 2.

Regarding the resignation of Harald Mahrer as WKÖ chief, Trefelik said: "In light of the public discussion, he eventually became untenable, that's clear." But: "The way he was brought down - also by party friends - was quite intense. Some probably settled a personal score there."

FPÖ Wants End to Mandatory Membership

The Freedom Party responded to Katzian's statements with a renewed call for the abolition of mandatory membership in the Chamber of Commerce. This is a "relic of the past." "Real reforms are overdue, but the black-red-pink government simply blocks all necessary steps for an economic upswing. Therefore, an end to mandatory membership and compulsory contributions," said FPÖ economic spokesperson Barbara Kolm in a statement.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.