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Austria Works Councils
In addition to the trade unions, and theoretically separate
from them, are the works councils, which exist at the plant level
as the elected representatives of all plant employees, whether or
not they are union members. According to law, the works councils
look after the economic, social, health, and cultural interests
of employees. This, in practice, means involvement in matters of
discipline, safety, sanitation, dismissal, and transfer, as well
as the handling of grievances and the implementation of
collective bargaining agreements. Works councils in corporations
also have a voice in management, electing two members to the
corporate board of directors with all the rights and duties of
other directors.
Although these various bodies representing labor are
theoretically separate, they work closely together, not only
because of overlapping interests and responsibilities but also
because labor leaders tend to be functionaries of both the unions
and the chambers. At higher levels, they are frequently members
of parliament as well. At lower levels, the elected members of
the works councils in the plants are almost invariably union
members and are usually union officials as well.
Despite an apparent superfluity of bodies representing the
interests of labor, the division of primary responsibilities
between them is fairly clear. The chambers represent a worker's
interest on the economic policy level, the works councils are
concerned with a worker's everyday interest at the plant level,
and the unions serve primarily as collective bargaining agents.
In this function, a specific union usually conducts the actual
negotiations, and the ÖGB has the ultimate power of approval and
reserves for itself the negotiating authority for agreements that
pertain to all employed persons.
Data as of December 1993
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