Austrian trade unions betsveen continuity and modernisation

Abstract

Although the national trade union movements in Europe face very similar challenges, considerable differences can be observed in their responses to these challenges and in the results achieved (Crouch/Traxler 1995). During the 1980s the Austrian trade unions' record in this respect was relatively good. In particular, they achieved positive developments in real wages and employment. Between 1979 and 1989 real pay in Austria rose by more than 1.1% a year, a rate higher than in most other OECD countries (Guger 1991); the rate of unemployment, meanwhile, was comparatively low (annual average of 3%). An important factor in these successes has been the formal corporatist arrangement which gives the trade unions a consultative role in all economic and social policy fields. It is an arrangement dependent on two fundamental features, namely, the specific organisational structure of the participating organisations and a political culture peculiar to Austria (Traxler 1992). In organisational terms, the principle of the single trade union confederation is strictly adhered to. All the 14 existing trade unions in Austria (four public service unions, nine private sector manual workers' unions and one trade union for private sector white-collar workers - the GPA) belong to the Austrian Trade Union Confederation (ÖGB). Even though the principle of industrial unionism is not fully established, this organisational structure does provide the high degree of centralisation and concentration required by corporatism.. The political culture peculiar to Austria has been an important factor in establishing the legitimacy of social partnership and of the policy pursued by the trade unions. Until the early 1980s Austria was divided into two political "camps": social democracy on the one hand and the Christian-conservative camp on the other. Though the ÖGB,has been, formally speaking, situated "above" all political parties, it managed to internalise the situation of political cleavage by the informal creation of political factions. In this way it was able to enlist in both camps ideologically grounded support for and solidarity with the technocratic policy which it pursued at several removes from its members' immediate interests. That this recipe for success ran up against limits is clear from trends in membership figures. During the eighties the ÖCB suffered an above-average drop in membership (compared with other countries); union density fell from 56.2% to 46.2% (OECD 1994). One important cause of this development is the erosion of the political camps. As a result of the structural changes which are affecting the whole nature and experience of work, collective aspirations are gradually being replaced by individualistic trends, thus making it increasingly difficult for the trade unions to maintain their legitimacy. At political level evidence of such trends is provided by the number of floating voters and the growing fragmentation and competition within the party system, making corporatist cooperation between the large organisations and the political parties (i.e. those currently in government) increasingly difficult. Another factor which has further helped to weaken corporatism is that, with the internationalisation of the economy, price policy, a traditional tool of policy implementation, has become obsolete. The effects of EU accession (in particular the need to meet the fiscal policy convergence criteria laid down at Maastricht), and the opening up of eastern Europe with its reservoir of cheap labour, are placing an increasing strain on corporatism in general and on the trade unions in particular. This article sets out to consider the most important areas of problem which together constitute this challenge. In relation to each area, we examine the nature of the trade unions' responses, assessing the extent to which they have altered their policies and their structures to adapt to the changing circumstances.