Ministry of Integration to define ‘Austrian culture’

Austria’s Integration Minister Susanne Raab (centre-right ÖVP) has been tasked by chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) to develop a definition of “Austrian culture” or “Austrian dominant culture” (Leitkultur).

The task is part of a point from the “Austria Plan” Nehammer presented earlier this year when he called for developing a “guiding Austrian culture by 2030, which should also be reflected in law as a national cultural asset”. It should ensure “that symbols and behaviours that contradict our fundamental values can be treated in a legally differentiated manner”.

Raab has convened a panel of experts to reflect the national cultural heritage in law within the next six years as a first step, which will meet on Thursday, Der Standard reported. Under the title “Austrian Identity and Guiding Culture: values of coexistence”, the first meeting will be an introductory exchange, according to Raab’s office.

Austrian Airlines strikes: Are the two sides any closer to a deal?

Austrian Airlines has cancelled 400 flights due to an upcoming scheduled strike as workers negotiate their collective agreements, but how close is a deal, and will there be more disruption in the coming weeks?

Strike by Austrian Airlines cabin crew has begun

Weeks of negotiations in 17 rounds have not paid off: At midnight, AUA onboard staff began a 36-hour strike. As a precautionary measure, the airline had previously cancelled 400 flights on Thursday and Friday. 

From the union’s point of view, an agreement in the dispute over the collective agreement for AUA flight personnel was still possible by midnight on Wednesday. However, the fronts were hardened, and passengers are paying the price: around 52,000 people were affected by the flight cancellations during the Easter travel period, broadcaster ORF reported.

Austrian Airlines is offering free cancellations and rebookings, and passengers should be actively informed. Vienna Airport also held out the prospect of free parking lot cancellation; passengers who had already departed were reimbursed the costs for the additional parking time by the airport after providing proof of the rebooking.

The head of the Vida trade union, Roman Hebenstreit, told Ö1 that he was very sorry about the situation for air travellers and wanted to “sincerely apologise”. However, AUA had “forced the workforce into the measure”.

The airline, on the other hand, speaks of the union’s exaggerated and unrealistic demands. It is offering an 18% pay rise for two years and even 28% for co-pilots—a calculation that the union criticises as insufficient.

Lufthansa ground staff strike cancelled

The dispute over the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) for Lufthansa ground staff in Germany has been settled. Following successful mediation, the airline and the trade union ver.di have agreed on the main features of a new collective agreement for the approximately 25,000 employees, as announced yesterday evening in Frankfurt.

This means that strikes by this group of employees over the Easter vacations have been averted. In a ballot, over 90 percent of employees had already voted in favour of indefinite strikes.

Increased cooperation on migration issues with Italy announced

Italy and Austria want to work together even more closely in the area of migration in future and, in particular, further intensify cooperation with third countries, Austrian media reported. 

This is an “enormously important concern” for him, which he wants to promote at the European level, said Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) at a joint press conference with his Italian counterpart Matteo Piantedosi in Vienna yesterday.

With Denmark as host, Austria is organising a conference at the beginning of May for countries that can imagine migration deals with third countries – similar to the one between Italy and Albania – for their country. According to information from the Ministry of the Interior, the conference on May 6 in Copenhagen will be attended by interested EU countries, the EU Commission, and selected third countries.

Karner cited Rwanda (Great Britain is planning an asylum pact with the East African country) and the migration agreement between Italy and Albania, ratified by the Tirana parliament in February, as role models.

When asked which country he could imagine such an agreement with, the Minister of the Interior did not want to make any concrete statements. However, he did say that “more and more countries” wanted to take similar steps, but the legal framework had not yet been established.

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