Total rail strike – you need to know that for tomorrow – Austria News

Negotiations on a new rail KV failed on Sunday. A 24-hour Austria-wide railway strike is now imminent on Monday. Employers’ and workers’ representatives blamed each other for this. Only buses and municipal transport companies run, but no regional, long-distance or night trains or S-Bahn. The subways in Vienna are running. If you want to go to the airport, you have to use the rail replacement service – the CAT does not run.

New appointments will probably not be found before Tuesday. ÖBB boss Andreas Matthä criticized the vida for the “wanton strike”.

The vida trade union, on the other hand, criticizes after the failed negotiations that the employers’ side of the Chamber of Commerce recently increased their original offer of plus 200 euros (and one-off payment of 1,000 euros) by only 8 euros. “Eight euros do not avert a warning strike,” vida chief negotiator Gerhard Tauchner was quoted as saying in a broadcast. Employers, on the other hand, said they increased their offer from an increase of 8 percent to an increase of 8.44 percent. They blamed the union for staging a strike following a script.

Read more: ÖBB hammer! Train strike from Monday is now fixed

Read more: 5,000 trains aren’t running – what you need to know now

As a commuter, you have to bear this in mind on Monday

In any case, one thing is clear: rail traffic will be at a standstill throughout Austria on Monday!

Commuters across the country are now asking themselves the question: How do I get to work and what legal security do I have? Chamber of Labor expert Philipp Brokes gave tips on Twitter. “In the law on the right to be prevented from working, legal information depends heavily on the individual case,” he writes in a posting. “But there is a guideline that results from judicature and doctrine and which I can suggest,” he continues.

1Which public transport go to work?

“First of all, it should be checked whether it would only be possible to travel to work using the means of transport that was on strike. If there are realistic alternatives (private car, car pool, footpath), these would be preferable. The court says that “partners may have to play the chauffeur” , according to Brokes.

2Are there detours?

If it is possible to take a detour to get there, employees should think about the following: Is my detour reasonable? “No one will have to drive from Vienna to St. Pölten via Prague. Defining the border is difficult, depending on how long you have traveled to date and your daily working hours. With an 8-hour day, a 3-hour journey would probably be unreasonable,” explains the employment law expert.

3Has the employer organized a travel service?

“If the employer offers a chauffeur service or wants to cover taxi costs, preference should be given. Conversely, it cannot be demanded that the entire company arrive and depart by taxi at its own expense (!). It is essential to consult the client here ‘ Brokes says.

4What if there is a home office agreement?

“If there is a valid home office agreement, recourse to this would be advisable. Firstly, it saves you having to individually interpret whether travel is reasonable, secondly, it actually saves you the stress. Without an HO agreement, however, no unilateral order of HO is permitted.”

5Is consent required?

“Due to the duty of loyalty, where there is no HO agreement and the client wants to conclude one (at short notice), approval would be suggested if HO is possible and reasonable for you (not only technically, also factually – keyword living and family circumstances) .”

6Do additional costs have to be reimbursed?

“The approximately 60% whose job is not suitable for HO, but do not look through the fingers. Here the AG will have a special interest in enabling the staff to travel. If the AG arranges the journey, you will incur (additional) costs as a result to replace according to § 1014 ABGB.”

7Beware of litigation

“Why is that important? Because the right to be prevented from working is dependent on fault. Continued payment of wages would be problematic if employees, despite being reasonable, did not choose any alternative behavior that could shorten or even exclude the prevention. Legal dispute here very difficult.”

This means, according to Brokes, that as an employer you can travel by detour and therefore come to work late, and it is not legally possible to be able to stay at home all day.

8thAre delays then minus hours?

Here, too, the Chamber of Labor man makes it clear: “If, despite the effort to arrive on time with alternative means of transport, there should be a delay, this should generally not be entered as a “minus hour/minute”, but should be regarded as a legitimate (excused) hindrance.”

In special cases, however, Brokes advises those affected to contact the Chamber. “Most of the issues can be easily resolved under labor law.”