KV Ordensspitäler Oberösterreich: Employees vote on offer by 25 March

The outcome of the negotiations will now be voted on by 25 March. However, it is also clear that the central demand for a real reduction in working hours at the collective agreement level remains unresolved for the time being.

After eight rounds in the collective agreement negotiations for the Order Hospitals of Upper Austria, the present offer is now being voted on among the employees. A shortening of the 40-hour week could not be achieved. This means that a central demand of the approximately 10,000 non-medical employees remains open.

Since September of last year, the employees have been fighting together with the trade union vida for a noticeable relief in everyday work. From the very beginning, the focus was on an urgently needed reduction in working hours. Although the offer now on the table does not bring a breakthrough in weekly working hours, it does contain the first relief measures.

In addition, the offer provides for a 3.3 percent increase in salaries and allowances from July with a term of one year .

Time bonus as a first step towards relief

From the point of view of the trade union vida, the increase in the annual time bonus is a first step forward - especially because a legal entitlement to consumption in time is provided for in the future. Especially in a working environment that has been suffering from high stress, staff shortages and growing pressure for years, additional free time is not a sideshow, but a question of health.

"The increase in the annual time bonus is a step in the right direction - especially in connection with the legal right to consume it in time. Now it's up to all employees to vote on the current offer," says Martina Reischenböck.

The fact that this offer exists at all did not fall from the sky, but was the result of the pressure of the past months. Strikes, meetings and the strong cohesion of the workforce have brought movement into the negotiations.

"What we have achieved so far, we have achieved through our strike and our strength. We are stronger than ever and will not let it get us down in the future. We don't give up - we take a run-up," says Elke Hergetz, nurse at the Elisabethinen in Linz.

Criticism of state politics in Upper Austria remains valid

In addition to the employers, the trade union vida also continues to see the politics of the province of Upper Austria as responsible. After all, good health care needs good working conditions – and they don't fall from the sky, even if some people like to behave that way politically.

"We continue to see state politics as being called upon to create framework conditions that ensure us sufficient recovery and good care for our patients. The silence of our state government was a clear sign – we feel abandoned," says Sandra Weilnböck, radiology technologist at the Sisters of Mercy Linz.

Employees to decide by 25 March

From Wednesday, March 18, the feedback with the employees will start. For one week, the workforce can vote on the present negotiation result. The result of the vote will be announced on Wednesday, March 25.

This means that the last word now lies with those who ensure health care in the Order Hospitals of Upper Austria on a daily basis.