Greens caught off guard

“Dirty deal” on civil servant salaries

The government's salary negotiations in the fall—pictured here are Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer (SPÖ) and State Secretary Alexander Pröll (ÖVP)—were a tough nut to crack.(Bild: APA/HANS KLAUS TECHT)

For weeks in the fall, they let the government beg them to agree to a small salary reduction—but as is now becoming apparent, the civil servants' union may have paid dearly for this deal: staff representatives are receiving generous allowances.

Last fall, weeks of negotiations took place on whether and how the wage agreement for the public sector would be renegotiated. The government and the union finally agreed to postpone the wage increase already agreed upon from the beginning of the year to July in order to ease the burden on the budget. But what hardly anyone noticed was that at the same time, the National Council also approved a new allowance system for exempt staff representatives. In effect, this means significantly more money for some union officials.

Almost fourfold increase
The Greens also agreed at the time, but without knowing that the allowances had been included in the legislative package, according to the party. According to information provided by the state of Salzburg to "ZiB 2," a teacher staff representative currently receives a maximum allowance of 800 euros per month, but in the future this will rise to up to 3,000 euros. Individual teacher staff representatives would thus receive €9,000 gross per month. According to ORF, the chairman of the Public Service Union, Eckehard Quin, has stated in writing that exempt staff representatives must not suffer any disadvantages in terms of remuneration.

Younion chairman Christian Meidlinger and GÖD chairman Eckehard Quin(Bild: APA/HANS KLAUS TECHT)

The Greens feel they have been duped by the government. They received the draft bill one day before it was passed and only now discovered the allowance increase. Deputy club leader Sigrid Maurer expressed her dismay to the "Krone" newspaper and will raise the issue at Wednesday's National Council meeting.

The government's salary negotiations in the fall—pictured here are Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer (SPÖ) and State Secretary Alexander Pröll (ÖVP)—were a tough nut to crack.(Bild: APA/HANS KLAUS TECHT)

"While hundreds of thousands of teachers, police officers, and other civil servants had to forego their salary increases, the union officials did very well for themselves. I consider this a scandal. This dirty deal reminds me of the Chamber of Commerce, where officials treated themselves to huge salary increases while telling others that they had to tighten their belts."

This dirty deal reminds me of the Chamber of Commerce.

Sigrid Maurer

Bild: APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER

Government speaks of a "clarification"
For decades, the union has been "the reliable stumbling block for any education reform. This must stop. We will not let up and will shine a light on these privileges," Maurer announced. It is noteworthy that Maurer said that the ÖVP had already tried to increase allowances for civil servant union members during their joint term in office, but that the Greens had prevented this.

It is also interesting that the municipal employees' union "younion," which was at the table during the civil servant salary negotiations, states that its officials will not benefit from the new regulation. When asked, the Chancellery, which is responsible for civil servants, stated that the amendment was merely a standardization of salaries "in the interests of transparency." "This clarification was decided by the National Council and the Federal Council with the 2025 amendment to the civil service law."