2024-01-22 10:19:11
Vienna (OTS) – “This is a frontal attack once morest the welfare state and therefore once morest the people in this country,” says AK director Silvia Hruška-Frank, criticizing the “incidental wage cost reduction path” announced by Chancellor Karl Nehammer. In reality, it is not something trivial and dispensable, but rather important social state contributions that finance the core services of our social system such as benefits in the event of illness, accident, unemployment or those for families. And in the end, the employees pay for their supposed “relief” themselves.
According to the AK director, to speak of a relief for employees is a deliberate deception. Because the reduction in welfare state contributions first goes into the pockets of the employers. Employees have to cover the loss of income because they finance 80 percent of the budget, while at the same time they are threatened with cuts in social benefits. Hruška-Frank: “The reduction in non-wage labor costs is a Trojan horse for working people: instead of the promised relief, they are asked to pay twice.” The Chancellor is therefore only following this path with companies.
The welfare state would be missing 1.7 billion euros annually
The cuts often demanded by employers and economic liberals have long since taken place in recent years – including in the FLAF contribution and unemployment insurance. As a result, the welfare state loses a whopping 1.7 billion euros every year. It must be clear: further cuts without counter-financing mean painful cuts to the welfare state.
It seems downright cynical when the Chancellor nonchalantly says that the shortfalls in the family burden equalization fund have to be paid for from the budget. “It’s like drilling a hole in a trouser pocket and letting the money trickle out and then saying, never mind, I’ll pay it out of the other pocket,” criticizes AK director Hruška-Frank. The FLAF has been in billions of dollars in debt for many years and is light years away from paying it off. The employees, who finance 80 percent of the budget, are then asked to pay. If the situation worsens, there is a risk of cuts in important family benefits such as family allowances, childcare allowances and free school books.
Complaining regarding the need for workers – but hollowing out the AMS budget
In the last budget, unemployment insurance contributions were just reduced by 0.1 percent. This endangers the future self-financing level of unemployment benefits and disproportionately benefits large companies. There is an urgent need for improvement, especially when it comes to unemployment benefits: the poor relationship to previous income, the lack of adjustment to inflation and the complete devaluation of family allowances, which have not been adjusted since 2001, massively increase the risk of poverty in the event of a job loss. In addition, there are major challenges in labor market qualifications due to the digitalization and greening of the economy. Hruška-Frank: “Whining regarding a lack of skilled workers, but then cutting the AMS’s income is a highly short-sighted policy that only stares at the next elections instead of tackling the long-term challenges.”
“If Chancellor Nehammer wants to talk regarding a structural tax reform that relieves the burden on employees and finally asks the super-rich and corporations to pay, the AK is happy to provide its expertise,” concludes Hruška-Frank.
Questions & Contact:
Vienna Chamber of Labor
Michaela Lexa-Frank
Tel.: (+43) 50165-12141, car: (+43)664 8454166
[email protected]
1705918792
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