Austrian unions plan for national ballot

Later this month all members of the OGB, Austria's trade union confederation, will be asked to vote on what action to take in response to the government's social policy.

The unanimous decision of the OGB executive to call for a nationwide vote among its 1.44m members represents a major break with the past tradition of consensus. But it is the result of a series of increasingly bitter conflicts between the unions and the government coalition of the christian democratic OVP and the extreme right FPO.

Among the issues which have led the OGB to take this are action are: plans to tax pensions paid to those who have accidents; government intervention in the state-owned radio and television station; proposed increases in student fees; and above all the exclusion of unions from key bodies which take decisions on social services.

The precise nature of the action to be voted on between 24 September and 15 October, is not yet known. But Austria's employers are already warning of the dangers of a general strike. Jorg Haider, the former leader of the FPO, has gone further accusing the unions of the planning "a large scale campaign of destabilisation".

Fritz Verzetnitsch, the president of the OGB has stated that the unions do not plan to overthrow the government. But they do want to stop government plans which will harm workers and they are not prepared to "be pushed aside".