Second and Third Trade Union Congress on Job Placement Issues

Second trade union congress, Christmas 1896

The job placement service as a communal institution under the exclusive management of the trade unions
Speaker: Ludwig Exner

"Due to a change in the agenda, Exner then gave a lecture on" The employment agency as a communal institution. "He stated that the fluctuation of workers made it necessary to establish employment agencies. The employment agency was included in most of the association's statutes, but it was not maintained 16,576 people reported to the employment agencies in 1895. In Germany, it has been calculated that five million people change jobs annually, with an average of two to three weeks being unemployed for each worker. The 5317 co-operatives existing in Austria in 1894 were divided into 552 specialist co-operatives, 440 co-operatives of related trades and collective co-operatives. There were only very few co-operatives that brokered, and these were mainly in Vienna. Half of the co-operatives An assistant committee could not have been constituted because it was not convened. In the employment agencies run by the entrepreneurs, this facility is used for their own purposes. 

The speaker moved a resolution in which the establishment of municipal labor records was rejected, since such institutions would only serve the interests of capital without the exclusive management and leadership of the trade unions. If the state and the community are seriously interested, they should provide the unions with money to expand and manage the employment services. At the same time, the resolution takes a position against joint work records to be managed by employers and employees. The trade unions have a duty to expand their own employment agencies and to combat all other experiments. The resolution was passed unanimously without debate. Two years later, however, a municipal employment agency was set up in Vienna. "(Klenner, page 210)

Third trade union congress (July 11-15, 1900)

"The phenomena of the crisis meant that the unions dealt with the problem of unemployment. Since it was recognized that unemployment was caused by the economic system, means were sought to alleviate the consequences of unemployment for the worker. The Congress of German Trade Unions treated unemployment insurance as a separate item on the agenda. Opinions were divided among the Austrian trade unions, and the objection to state unemployment insurance was that the state must have an interest in keeping the number of unemployed low, and therefore one of them In order to make it effective, there must be a stipulation that a given job must not be turned down, but this would force the unemployed to take up jobs with poor working conditions and discipline wage hunters and strikers If, however, unemployment benefits were limited to the trade unions, they would remain a weapon in the wage war. Small amounts of state social policy were not enough to really heal the damage to the existing social order. (Klenner, page 264) 

With regard to the placement of labor, the Congress expressed the conviction that the placement of labor could only be a matter for the workers' organizations. If employment agencies were set up by the state, state or municipality, the workers could only have some confidence in these institutions if the following principles were recognized:

1. Administration of employment services by a commission composed of equal numbers of workers and entrepreneurs under the direction of an impartial chairman.
2. Election of the committee members by their classmates taking into account the large and small business.
3. Management of the mediation business by persons withdrawn from the ranks of the workers; Election of these persons by the commission.
4. The Commission has the right to decide in certain cases, in particular in the case of work stoppages and lockouts, to discontinue the placement of these companies.
5. Obligation of the employer to also meet the work and wage conditions specified in the employment certificate after the employment has taken place.
6. Exact compilation of wages and other working conditions through the mediation and keeping of exact statistics about the same as well as about the results of the employment mediation in general, finally publication of the last data in as short periods as possible in the workers press.
7. Exemption from fees, stamps and postage for all employment agencies that are subject to these principles.
8. All other costs are borne by the state, state or municipality.

(Klenner, page 241/242)

Text from: Fritz Klenner: "Die österreichischen Gewerkschaften", First volume

Conclusion:

100 years ago the Austrian trade unions were much more consistent on the side of the workers. Numerous unions operated employment agencies, half of the membership fees flowed back to the members in the form of support contributions in the event of illness or unemployment. In contrast to today, workers looking for work were a central component of trade union work. As the second quote from 1900 shows, the unions quickly came to terms with the real balance of power. Today there is still a small support contribution for union members registered as unemployed, which is paid out for three months, but many members do not know about it.