Own expert committee

The Chamber of Labor takes action against the nursing crisis

Salzburg Chamber of Labor President Peter Eder

(Bild: Markus Tschepp)

People who work in care like their job, but feel underappreciated and often overwhelmed. The Chamber of Labor is therefore planning its own expert committee for social professions in Salzburg: it should give a voice to those "who are crying out for help", says President Peter Eder.

Only one in four people in the health, care and social sector are satisfied with their job. Too many and too long shifts, sudden stand-ins for colleagues and 13-hour shifts without proper appreciation - "there are problems everywhere", says Chamber of Labor (AK) President Peter Eder, interpreting the results of a study conducted among 2,800 employees and presented on Friday. According to the study, 60 percent of employees in the care sector feel under massive pressure.

The central question: How can people in care and health professions feel more valued? And how can their workload be reduced? A separate expert committee at the Chamber of Labor is intended to give carers a voice who are "crying out for help", as Norbert Piberger, Head of the Chamber of Labor's Department for Healthcare Professions, Nursing Policy and Registration, puts it.

Committee as a mouthpiece for the social professions in politics
The committee will be established within the AK. It will include nursing directors, works council members from nursing organizations and nursing professionals - twelve members in total. Christian Freisinger, Chairman of the Works Council at the Barmherzige Brüder hospital in the city of Salzburg, will chair the committee.

The expert committee will receive 20,000 euros from the Chamber of Labor. This money can be used to pay experts to provide advice. The members themselves work on a voluntary basis and are not bound by instructions, meaning they can make their own decisions. The expert committee is to observe where there is a need for action and "proactively develop and offer solutions". The aim is to establish a more direct line to politics and thus improve working conditions in the care, social and healthcare professions.

"We have to save the care system," says Peter Eder emotionally. "But we can't save it by bringing in three Filipinos." Domestic care workers need to be motivated and those who have left the care and social professions need to be brought back. The AK expert committee is a first step towards improving the situation. But: "I want to see a plan for the big picture from politicians," concludes Eder.