Inflation, particularly in housing, energy, mobility and food, led a particularly large number of people to seek help from the Chamber of Labor last year. In the Freistadt district, where the AK has 28,138 members, there were exactly 4,749 inquiries over the year 2023. In three-quarters of the cases, the AK members picked up the telephone with their concerns; around 1,100 inquiries were made in person, and the AK was contacted by email only 256 times.
These contacts have definitely paid off for the chamber members, as district office manager Klaus Riegler emphasized at a press conference regarding the AK’s annual balance sheet: “We have won a total of more than 2.5 million euros for our members.” The “opponents” of the AK lawyers were rarely employers unwilling to pay: only eleven percent of the damage amount arose from labor law problems. The AK Freistadt raised significantly more money for its members from social law matters: more than 1.7 million euros. It was mainly regarding the topics of pension and care allowance. In addition, in 2023, payments of almost half a million euros were enforced for employees from insolvent companies in the Freistadt district.
In its commitment, the chamber makes no distinction whether the amounts involved are large or small, says Klaus Riegler: “We investigate every case with the same care.” In one case, legal experts helped a man get 182 euros. The largest sum, namely 88,143 euros, concerned a woman in a large floristry company. “We do not shy away from confrontation in the interests of our members, not even at a political level,” says AK President Andreas Stangl, referring to initiatives for free childcare from the age of two or the mobility bonus for apprentices.
Chamber of Labor elections will take place in Upper Austria from March 5th to 18th. Around 570,000 eligible voters are allowed to cast their votes in the AK general assembly election.
