The trade unions GPA and younion give the LH deputy Christine Haberlander (VP) an ultimatum. Measures to improve working conditions in kindergartens are needed by October 31st. Otherwise there will be a strike. Haberlander’s six million euro package is not enough. Haberlander himself did not react, the club chairman of the OÖVP Christian Dörfel jumped in. To the annoyance of the unions: Dörfel was never in contact, he had “no idea at all,” according to a broadcast.
Dörfel was surprised at the “position of the confrontation”. After all, the trade unions were involved in the development of the kindergarten package. That’s not true, they were “in no way” involved, said GPA Managing Director Wolfgang Gerstmayer. There were only preliminary talks, and Haberlander then “unilaterally created the measures,” said younion state secretary Mario Kalod.
Gerstmayer and Kalod demanded that Dörfel withdraw the “false” allegation immediately yesterday morning. He replied in the late afternoon: The union had attended five hearings and contributed each time. In the summer she even praised the country’s package as the “first step towards relief”. Apparently “there are different approaches to what negotiations mean,” the club chairman suspected. “Joint solutions and no staging” are needed. Dörfel received support from the Deputy Mayor of Linz and Chairman of the Upper Austrian Family Association, Martin Hajart (VP). The fact that Daniela Gebauer, Chairwoman of the Kinderfreunde works council, described the kindergarten facilities as “mere storage facilities” shows how “remote from reality GPA and younion” are.
Hajart proposes a “grandmother’s service” as is already in use at the Familienbund: retired educators could be employed on a small scale in the kindergartens in order to relieve the other staff.
Source: Nachrichten
