ALTENFELDEN. The laundry of the Artegra workshops in Altenfelden is realigning its field of activity – there are also restrictions. 20 employees lose their jobs.
In the future, the sheltered workshop will focus on cleaning the personal laundry of residents of old people and nursing homes. All other laundry services are no longer offered. This includes, for example, cleaning orders for the Rohrbach hospital, for industrial and commercial companies, gastronomy and the hotel industry. Between July and September you want to reposition yourself.
The reason for this reorientation is linked to a negative decision: “In order to be able to maintain the wide range of services offered by the laundry, a large extension would have been necessary,” explains Managing Director Franz Höglinger. This would have caused around three million euros in costs. However, as a provider of protected work under the Equal Opportunities Act, Artegra Werkstätten gGmbH is dependent on the support of the public sector for such investments. However, the country’s social department could not manage such a large investment.
Contracts are dissolved
The realignment has an impact on business customers: “Unfortunately, we feel compelled to cancel contracts with business customers outside of the ‘residents’ laundry’ service area,” regrets the managing director: “We hope that those companies affected will quickly fall back on alternative laundry service providers be able”.
Offers for employees
Due to the specialization, the laundry also has to part with around 20 employees without impairments. A social plan and training opportunities were drawn up for them. The works council, the management, the AMS and the social department of the state of Upper Austria cooperated for this. One focus is on training and qualification opportunities via foundations for jobs in old people’s and nursing homes or in the social sector. As far as possible, employees will continue to be employed within Artegra or in the Arcus social network.
The jobs of the “protected employees”, i.e. those for people with disabilities, will be retained in their entirety. These workplaces offer significantly better working conditions due to the future more relaxed room situation.
The employment and qualification of people with disabilities and their placement on the general job market is Artegra’s core mission and task. Even with the reorientation of the laundry, she is clearly fulfilling this basic task.
Source: Nachrichten
