Counting continued until late in the evening yesterday at the voting center in the Linz Chamber of Labor. This morning the results of the 2024 Chamber of Labor election in Upper Austria will be officially presented in detail at a press conference.
However, the main trends already emerged yesterday during the evening. Accordingly, AK President Andreas Stangl remained below the 71 percent record result of his predecessor Johann Kalliauer from 2019 when he first ran as the top candidate of the Social Democratic Trade Union Group (FSG). Nevertheless, the FSG clearly defended its position with 66.2 percent dominant force in the AK General Assembly.
However, the forces behind the FSG have shifted. The list of the Christian Trade Unionist Group (ÖAAB/FCG) suffered losses (from 13.4 to around 11 percent) and thus lost second place, which went to the Freedom Workers (FA).
For the top candidate on the ÖAAB/FCG list, Cornelia Pöttinger, who always appeared as a duo in the election campaign with second-placed Franz Lumetsberger, this is the second painful defeat as first on the list following 2019.
As expected, the Freedom Workers (FA), making them the second strongest force in the General Assembly, were able to gain around five percentage points. In 2019, at 10.2 percent, the FA were only around three percentage points behind the ÖAAB/FCG list. In this year’s AK election, they achieved around 15 percent and, led by their top candidate Gerhard Knoll from voestalpine, overtook the list of black trade unionists.
The green trade unionists on the AUGE/UG list remained constant at around four percent compared to the 2019 AK election. This is followed by the list of the Non-Party Interest Group (PFG) with 2.4 percent and the Trade Union Left Block (1.4 percent).
In total, around 570,000 employees were entitled to vote in the AK election in Upper Austria. Voter turnout fell compared to 2019 – from 41 to around 35 percent.
AK elections in Tyrol, Vorarlberg, Salzburg, Carinthia
In addition to the one in Upper Austria, four AK elections have already taken place this year: In Carinthia last week, the FSG was unable to maintain its record result from 2019 (77.6 percent). With 69.3 percent, however, they remain clearly the dominant force. The Freedom Workers came second (18.6 percent) ahead of the ÖAAB (5.2 percent).
In Tyrol and Vorarlberg, the Christian Trade Unionists (FCG/ÖAAB) defended their first places, but lost slightly. There were also losses for the second-placed FSG. The Freedom Party was able to gain. In Salzburg, the FSG expanded its first place (69 percent), while FCG/ÖAAB and Freiheitliche lost.
