Austria: Women in Forced Labour?

Will Forced Labor of Women at Labor Offices Stop?

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Vienna – Kawther Salam – March 8 2010, International Women’s Day.

March 8 is a major day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women, but also it is a day to remind the governments which have enacted more laws that violate women’s rights, that they must review these laws, which for example allow the labor offices to force these women into contracts where the labor of women is sold cheaply, 690 euro monthly for a 45 hour week, far under the level of poverty, and 30% of their salary is deducted once the women are rented out, according to what I was told. These “contracts” and the how these women (and men) are bullied into them correspond to the definition of forced labor set forth in the Forced Labour Convention of 1930, ratified by Austria on 07.06.1960. Quote:

For the purposes of this Convention the term “forced or compulsory labour” shall mean all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily. Click here to read the law.

The convention states some explicit exceptions of this definition, such as military service and community services in certain qualified cases, but the kind of activity to which these people are forced have nothing to do with these stated exceptions.

In Vienna, unemployed women (and also men) are bullied by the labor office into “contracts” with companies which in turn rent them out to anybody needing a cheap worker. It is not clear if the bad deal of these women forced into virtual slavery has to do with labor laws which have been passed by the governments of the European Union in the wake of the economic crisis that swept global markets and led to the continuing collapse in the domestic and international economy, or if has to do with changing the statistical data about unemployment in Austria in order to make them look more favorable to the government. In any case, if these assumptions are right or wrong, the Austrian laws forbid forced labour. The Austrian penal code deals with slavery, forced labour and similar crimes in sections 104 to 106 in the chapter about “Human Trafficking”.

Unemployed waiting before a work office in Vienna, 5 before 8 in the morning, 6 degrees under zero. The work office employees were inside drinking coffee.

On the basis of the Austrian laws, but also taking in account the expectations of citizens, it is very important to raise this issue at the International Women’s Day, regardless of whether raising this issue will be satisfactory or unsatisfactory to the concerned authorities. We insist on raising the women issue in several successive reports, until it reaches the ears of the authorities, who will hopefully introduce changes and solutions in the best interest of the people.

Based on what I have been told and personally seen, I must ask if the labor offices have been turned into business projects which effectively sell the labour of women to other companies, and very cheap.

  • Is the labour office forcing women back under the reign of feudal lords and slavers?Are the psychological pressure and the overt threats against women brought into such relations, such as the threat to terminate unemployment or welfare benefits, as done by the employees at the labor office and these companies every day against women, in line with Austrian laws and the aspirations of a democratic society?
  • Can it be “legal” to force an elderly lady who obviously is incapable of work due to constant shaking of all her body into “work” for one of such companies?
  • How can one qualify the threat to terminate benefits because a woman announces a visit to the doctor?
  • Are the methods of psychological pressure and threatening women to cut their allowance of subsidy implied by labor workers against women in accordance with the laws of Austria? Which are the provisions of Austrian law on the prevention of transfer of women and citizens into forced labour relations?

In light of the data available to me, the labor office force threatens women with withholding benefits if they dare to protest against being bullied into “labor” relations in certain companies under the pretext helping them to look for work – these “measures” are always represented as “courses” where people are supposed to learn how to find work, as I know from many conversations. The labour office usually rejects to the wishes of women to choose a profession or line of work which they think suits them best, and instead they are “made” saleswomen, nail polishers and hairdressers, to be rented out.

I was greatly disappointed when I visited one such company which runs a program to process women over 50 sent to them by the labour office. One of the women I saw there was a woman over 60, all her body was trembling, she had to cough whenever she moved. I asked an “instructor” what kind of work they would find for this woman. I also asked her for her opinion about selling women in the work market?

This sick woman was a client of the social office, as, according to the new laws, the social office now submits their clients to the work office to “help them look for work”, and the labour and welfare offices work together. In most countries of the world, even the undeveloped countries, there is a separation between the employment (labor) offices and the offices of social affairs, for very obvious reasons, but in Austria, and apparently the EU the situation is different. In the EU the social cases, the sick people and the elderly are under threat to have their benefits withheld if they do not do whatever the labour offices want from them.

During a visit to another company which holds such “courses”, I saw some of the bums usually standing around at Karlsplatz, a meeting place for the bums and drug addicts of the city, clearly not labour office clients. I wonder what kind of work these people will able do, but the presence of people who are obviously unable to work hints at another problem which I have been told in my conversations, but which I can not confirm: corruption and collusion between these companies and government officials to milk the social and employment welfare system.

In this company the “clients” are allocated to do small work according to the whims of the company. At the beginning of the interview, the “instructor” asks the client which work they would like to do? After that, the client is told that they can’t offer them this kind of work, and then pressure and bullying begins, and continues until the “client” chooses whatever work they are offered, usually selling, cleaning, menial office work and other similar occupations. The “instructor” never forgets to remind the attendants that they will file a negative report about them if she or he does not do whatever they are told, “chooses” whatever they are “offered”. People are “asked” to sign a paper, under threat of a negative report or course.

According to what I was told, people are pooled for a month after signing their “agreement” with the company, and they are “trained” during this time to do menial work. After this, the company which runs the program starts renting them out. The only obvious “benefit” to the government is that people who are in such programs are not considered as unemployed, but are still financed by the office of labour. This changes (falsifies ?) the statistics significantly. As of February 2010 there were about 400.000 people officially registered as unemployed in Austria, and about 82.000 of these persons were in such programs. It appears that welfare clients, people who are traditionally classified as unemployable for various reasons, are being included in such programs with the intension of “bettering” the long-term unemployment statistics.

For the people who are included in such programs, their personal situation is such that they are forced for up to 8 months into a pseudo-labour relation where they are pooled with others for 45 hours per week at 690 Euro monthly, and, if they are rented out, 30% of the salary is deducted, as my sources told me, an income far under poverty level, which is set at about 950 Euros monthly for a working week of 38,5 hours in Austria. I could not understand what economic sense it makes to the government to falsify its unemployment statistics by forcing people into such programs, as the full costs for these women and men are still being born by the government. According to my information, people in such programs are kept for the first 30 days as “course participants”, and are thereafter run as employed in the employment statistics, while still being paid in full from the unemployment or social money of the government. If a woman in such a pool completes the 8 months without having been rented out, she will automatically return to labour office, probably only to be included in the next pooling program.

If a woman included in such a program can be rented out, it probably means that they will be paid at under market prices, what gives no incentive to the “renter” to keep her in his employ beyond the end of the pooling program, what also means that the woman will also find her way to the labour office. Based on the observation that the participants forced into such pooling programs are actually paid by the government, the official statistic of only 400.000 unemployed can be assumed to be far lower than the real number of people unemployed in this country, because this is a category of people who are neither in “courses” nor “unemployed” proper.

For the companies running these programs, the benefit seems obvious. According to what I was told, they get to cut for themselves the difference between 690 Euros (what is paid to the clients) and about 900 Euros, and it is possible that they are paid a sum on top of that. I understand that in Austria such pooling and pseudo-capacitation programs are run by a few big companies, what assures them handsome profits based solely on the number of people unemployed. A very simple calculation would indicate that running such a pooling program with 1.000 participants can leave net profits of about 120.000 Euros per month.

Another important factor in the revenue stream of such companies, which are widely called parasites (“Schmarotzerfirmen”) by Austrians, seems to be corruption. Even without leveling the accusation of activities which would qualify legally as corrupt, their activity is questionable at best as the deteriorating labour statistics demonstrate. Still, a case which became widely known in the Austrian corporate media is the now-defunct company “Venezia”, which was caught in a scandal which implicated ministerial employees in transferring funds to this company for non-existent invoices.

I was told in personal conversations that in the case of courses of German for foreigners (all foreigners must by law attend German courses in Austria), most legitimate language institutes have no chance of getting contracts from the government, as these contracts are given to a few big companies, and this has to do with what I understood to be a “60:40” arrangement, meaning a 40% kickback. I understood from the person who told me this that it was general knowledge among institutes offering language courses. I am not in a position to confirm this information.

Some questions are:

  • Are women (and men) led into forced labor in companies which work for the labour office?
  • Which is the relationship between the labor office and these companies beyond the formal contract?
  • Who are the owners of those companies?
  • Are they from circles closes to politicians, political parties in power and employees in the labor offices and ministries?
  • Have any of these companies achieved positive results towards ending the problem of unemployment?
  • Does the labor office use these companies to falsify the statistical data about unemployment, or can this charge be easily refuted with verifiable information?
  • How exactly would such a falsification of statistics happen if it was true?
  • Is the falsification of unemployment statistics a violation of any law?
  • Why has the Austrian corporate media avoided these issues until now, instead opted for running a show which suggests that everything is well?

The answers for these questions will be followed in a future article.

I was told by acquaintances that I should abstain from writing this report as it would bring nothing at best, and that it could even bring me troubles. I think that it is important to report on these issues because women (and men) should not be treated like garbage in a country which presents itself as a civilized, democratic country, because always women are those who suffer the most from deteriorated social conditions, because I believe that not only citizens but also the government should act according to the law, anywhere. I find that this is an issue so big and important that the mass media, which have far more resources than I, should have a deep and abiding interest in bringing some clarity into this issue, which is not only about women rights, but also about human rights and democracy.

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11 comments to Austria: Women in Forced Labour?

  • Socialism and banker Capitalism are both Marxist oppression of people. Both require a slave-working class. The European State/s adheres to this out of a systemic will to dominate people, as if they were only cattle. It is no wonder that the same European milieu gave birth to the slavers known as Zionists. In the end it is utterly self destructive. The evil done to people in the mean time is incalculable.

    Thank you Ms. Salam, as always, for your most incisive and forthright reporting.

    Steve

  • Helen Thomasson

    Correct me if I am wrong, but aince prostitution is now legal in Germany, I read a few years ago that unemployed young women there are forced to work in the sex trade – making Germany an institutionalized pimp of a country. This could never have happened in 1944.

  • Razor

    Hi Kawther,

    I enjoy reading your articles and I support the campaign to bring justice to the Palestinian people by boycotting all Israeli produce from my home.

    You article above however struck me as unlikely, given the figures you quote. As an EU citizen, I didn’t see how, even in Austria, a county with a high cost of living, the poverty level could be set at €950 PER WEEK. So I checked it out, and if you click on the link below, you will see that the poverty level in Austria is actually €950 PER MONTH. I’m sure you will agree that this puts an entirely different complexion on things.

    http://www.statistik.at/web_en/statistics/social_statistics/poverty_and_social_inclusion/index.html

    In principle, I don’t see any reason why able bodied people should not be required to work where work is available, instead of simply claiming benefits, which, after all, are paid for by those who work and pay taxes. Social solidarity is essential in any civilised society in my view. However, that cuts both ways. There is a responsibility on those who receive state benefits to use the time this buys them to, in so far as possible, restructure their lives, either through finding suitable work or retraining or further education. Nobody is entitled to be maintained simply because they are work shy, or happen to have very high standards as to what work they will or won’t do.

    I think when you check out the actual statistics you will probably agree with me,

    Best regards,

    Razor – Ireland


    Answer: Thank you. The poverty level is set in Austria at around an income level of 950 Euro monthly, the working week is set at 38,5 hours for a full salary, and the people participating in pooling programs must attend for 45 hours. I updated the article to make this clear.

  • Alan - England

    This is exactly what is happening in the UK to unemployed people and people currently who are sick and disabled. The sick and disabled are being moved off the sick on the pretext that they are capable of doing some work even if it is just sitting at a key board and then they are told they must go on courses or loose their money. Once on these courses they are bullied into taking up work for firms like Asda who offer short term contracts at a low wage or they risk loosing their money.

    It seems as if this will soon be prevalant all over the EU.

  • parasitism

    if these cry babies would listen to their brainwashing they would know that slavery is freedom

  • Dear Kawther,

    Germany has the same exploiting methods against jobless, as those exposed here in your Austrian case, even the smallest details seem to be identical. It looks very strongly as if there is some kind of secret understanding, happening at occult level, between all these EU countries. Somewhere behind closed doors and behind the loud and shiny official political circus -with it´s “elections”, “parliament” “independent justice” a.s.o.- there is with certainty a power structure, that implements social engineering, free of any public and democratic control or even public knowledge.

    In the meantime we know that the natural woman role is heavily attacked by social engineering, a practice meant to put an end to real feminity, traditional (Godly) family structures and family rights, including those of wealth, security and personal property. I´ve already seen exactly this power at work in “former” marxist countries, where communism was just a system of mass extortion of wealth and workforce, a highly “progressive” adn revolutionary system that worked closely with… the “western” bankers and big companies. Look at China today for details…

    Now we see it here in the so called “free world”: Big business (and banking) just does not want to pay decent salaries for correct work, they have now the absolute power and just want to get everything for peanuts, so they are implementing a refined work and wealth extortion system, under the cover of … “social protection” and “care”.
    Since all “our” politicians are assets of big business and banking, there is no technical problem for THEM. Everything exposed here by you is pure truth. (please excuse my simple Romanian English)

    Good luck, best wishes and God bless you for your honest and great work!
    God help Palestine and all Palestinian people!

  • Mihail

    The jewish people as a whole will become its own Messiah. It will attain world dominion by the dissolution of other races, by the abolition of frontiers, the annihilation of monarchy and by the establishment of a world republic in which the Jews will everywhere exercise the privilege of citizenship.

    In this New World Order the children of Israel will furnish all the leaders without encountering opposition. The Governments of the different peoples forming the world republic will fall without difficulty into the hands of the Jews. It will then be possible for the Jewish rulers to abolish private property and everywhere to make use of the resources of the state. Thus will the promise of the Talmud be fulfilled, in which is said that when the Messianic time is come, the Jews will have all the property of the whole world in their hands.”

    — Baruch Levy, Letter to Karl Marx, ‘La Revue de Paris’, p.574, June 1, 1928

  • Gommel

    Dear Kawther,

    Here is my comment regarding your article “Austria: Women in Forced Labour?” ( I could not use the page comment form, I got some error everytime I tried. Maybe you can post it online if you wish so.)

    Germany has the same exploiting methods against jobless, as those exposed here in your Austrian case, even the smallest details seem to be identical. It looks very strongly as if there is some kind of secret understanding, happening at occult level, between all these EU countries. Somewhere behind closed doors and behind the loud and shiny official political circus -with it´s “elections”, “parliament” “independent justice” a.s.o.- there is with certainty a power structure, that implements social engineering, free of any public and democratic control or even public knowledge.

    In the meantime we know that the natural woman role is heavily attacked by social engineering, a practice meant to put an end to real feminity, traditional (Godly) family structures and family rights, including those of wealth, security and personal property. I´ve already seen exactly this power at work in “former” marxist countries, where communism was just a system of mass extortion of wealth and workforce, a highly “progressive” adn revolutionary system that worked closely with… the “western” bankers and big companies. Look at China today for details…

    Now we see it here in the so called “free world”: Big business (and banking) just does not want to pay decent salaries for correct work, they have now the absolute power and just want to get everything for peanuts, so they are implementing a refined work and wealth extortion system, under the cover of … “social protection” and “care”.

    Since all “our” politicians are assets of big business and banking, there is no technical problem for THEM. Everything exposed here by you is pure truth. Yes, it is forced labour! (please excuse my simple Romanian English)

    Good luck, best wishes and God bless you for your honest and great work!
    God help Palestine and all Palestinian people!

  • It is an internal conflict because this kind of government is trying to implement something that is outlawed in most of the civilized world, so cover ups are definitely in place.

  • Scott

    Kawthar,

    For many years, I have watched you work. You are an exceptional journalist, on a world scale, you rate! You must continue to teach other Palestinians that the pen is mightier than the sword. You have demonstrated this so well.

    I have a constructive suggestion for you today. You may or may not realize this, but for whatever reason, many people in the USA are too lazy, drugged, distracted, suffer from AHD and a bunch of other acronyms, Etcetera, Etcetera. Most have no concept of the real subjects, sadly, because they believe they are not affected by Palestinian issues and these issues are too complicated for them to grasp.

    I know this from fist hand life’s experience. Most of these people are good people, regardless. They would outrage of the paradigms you write about if they really understood.

    To reach a much wider audience in the USA , have you ever considered simpleton methods? For example many people where I live, exist just to watch the Simpsons, Family Guy, Etcetera, What I saying is that this mindset that the majority here hold. Commercial sports here also keep peoples minds away from true reality.

    I would like to see you use similar methods on these groups in my county. Maybe the technique could be referred to as “Anti Propaganda” approach. Appraising US citizens of reality is not an easy task but a potentially fruitful one. Just add some humor, drama and irony and your American audience will multiply, if you keep it simple, to the point and short lessons. (Consider the AHD scenario) I hope you can develop useful ideas form this perspective.

    Anyway, I have wanted to write you many times, but have not done so.
    You could not know this, but, I love you and wish you well in all of your undertakings.

    Scott,

  • Simon

    Women’s rights violations currently happen all over the world. Whether it is trafficking, stoning, honor killings, domestic violence, or many other atrocities toward women, we need your help.

    We are writing to inform you of this Human Rights topic that has been, for the most part, overlooked. Countries around the world condone these acts and ignore the issues whenever they come to light.

    The story of S. M. is our first step to help bring these devastating and inhumane policies to the public eye. You can raise awareness by screening your complimentary DVD of the film and consulting the attached form.

    As a blogger and website operator you have a unique power to help spread the word. Through you these horrific acts can be brought to the fore front of public issues and discussions.

    View the attached document that contains directions and questions for you to follow. For more information about the film, the crimes, and the issues you can visit:

    Simon

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