Agreement reached

Lorenz Böhler Hospital: strike off the table for the time being

An agreement has been reached for the staff of the Lorenz Böhler Hospital, meaning that a strike is off the table for the time being.(Bild: Martin Jöchl)

In the course of the imminent closure of the Lorenz Böhler Hospital in Vienna-Brigittenau, the works council and the General Directorate of the General Accident Insurance Institution (AUVA) reached an agreement late Wednesday afternoon. A warning strike on Thursday is therefore off the table for the time being. "The talks were very good. Almost all of our demands were met," said Heinz Brenner from the employees' negotiating team. 

In addition to a social plan demanded by the works council, a concrete plan of action and timetable for the approximately 500 employees as well as the documents for the decision to close the hospital were also discussed.

Works Council wanted specific details
The works council had previously complained that AUVA had still not provided any concrete details. "We have technicians, cleaners, kitchen staff and employees from many other areas. They also need to be informed "how things will continue, where and when", criticized Brenner, Deputy Chairman of the Works Council at the accident hospital, in the run-up to the negotiations.

The staff at the "Böhler" had repeatedly protested against the closure. Now safety deficiencies make it necessary to temporarily suspend operations.(Bild: APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER)

The AUVA management was thus just able to avert industrial action and thus also the triage of patients. The employees had previously demanded that their demands be met by midnight.

"Great efforts signaled"
Brenner said that work would now continue over the next few days on the measures following the complete lockdown in the first week of April. However, he was confident. "The AUVA has signaled its best efforts to us today," said Brenner.

According to the AUVA, talks are currently underway regarding additional hospital infrastructure for the processing of planned operations. These, as well as acute operations, will be carried out at the Brigittenau site until March 25. After that, the operations are to be carried out at dislocated locations such as the AUVA trauma center in Vienna-Meidling, the AKH and another hospital. A private Viennese hospital is also to "take over a certain proportion of planned operations over a certain period of time", according to an AUVA spokesperson. The AUVA did not specify which hospital was involved, referring to the ongoing talks.