!!!Arbeiterbewegung
Labour Movement: Simultaneously with the development of bourgeois
society, the transition from small-scale manufacturing to the factory
system at the beginning of the 19%%sup th/% century gave rise to a
new impoverished lower class which was referred to as "working class"
and which consisted of day-labourers, handymen etc. The concentration
of production in factories deprived many rural cottage workers of
their livelihood and forced them to move into the emerging industrial
centres. This enabled factory owners to reduce wages and caused
widespread poverty. This in turn incited resistance on the part of the
victims of such policies, which led to rioting on the one hand and to
the emergence of solidarity schemes on the other. Assistance funds
sprang from the tradition of journeymen's Gesellenladen (for instance
at Linz in 1842), which ultimately developed into sickness and
unemployment assistance funds as well as consumer and lending
associations. Workers first became organised during the Revolution of
1848, when a "workers' committee" constituted itself in Vienna and
successfully pressed for wage rises and a ten-hour workday. On
April 24, 1848 the shoemaker's journeyman, F. Sander, organised
the "Erster Oesterreichischer Arbeiterverein" (First
Austrian Workers' Society), which recruited its members predominantly
from among journeymen in the small-scale crafts and trades. Some time
thereafter a "Radical liberal Association" ("Radikaler liberaler
Verein") saw the light of day. On August 23, 1848 workers
and the National Guard clashed in Vienna on Jaegerzeile (currently
Praterstrasse). After 1848 the government forbade all such
associations with the exception of Catholic Journeymen's Associations
modelled on the ideas of A. Kolping Gesellenbetreuung, which were
established from 1852 onwards.
\\
In the period of Neoabsolutism, industrialisation and urbanisation
increased rapidly, and more and more workers were employed in
large-scale enterprises where it was easier to organise workers and,
in particular, to resort to strikes as a measure to assert their
claims. At the same time, workers formed craft associations
(Fachvereine), which not only aimed at higher wages but also stressed
work ethics and qualifications. It was on account of these latter
characteristics that the fachvereine became influential, mostly in
such trades as printing.
\\
From 1861 onward a series of new workers' associations were founded,
mostly on the basis of individual crafts. The Wiener Arbeiterverein,
founded in 1867, on the other hand, was interdisciplinary in nature.
In addition, workers' educational societies ( Arbeiterbildungsvereine)
were founded in Vienna and in some smaller towns. In 1872 there were
59 such workers' educational societies and 78 union-type craft
associations with a total of 80,000 members. The
Arbeiterbildungsverein of Vienna boasted 35.000 members in 1879.
Ideologically, these associations took their orientation from the
ideas of the German Social Democrats, they sympathised with the First
Workers' International of 1864 and thus furnished the authorities with
a pretence for prohibiting such associations. In 1870 leading
personalities of the Vienna association were tried for treason, which
led to massive street protests. In the same year, however, the
Reichsrat adopted an association law which allowed workers to form
political associations.
\\
Since that time, the workers' movement has maintained close links with
the Social-Democratic Party. The years from 1871 to 1888 were
characterised by internal struggles between the moderates (H.
Oberwinder) and radicals (A. Scheu). On the basis of the Socialism
Act of 1886 a state of emergency was declared in various regions,
there were 13 trials and 379 persons were forced into exile. It was at
this time that V. Adler came to the fore, advocating better working
conditions for the workers of the Wienerberger brickworks in his
capacity as works inspector; he also founded the newspaper
"Gleichheit" ("Equality") in 1886. He achieved consensus among
the different groups at the Hainfelder Parteitag of 1888/89 and
founded the Sozialdemokratische Partei Oesterreichs (Austrian Social
Democratic Party). On July 12, 1889 the first number of the
Arbeiterzeitung newspaper was issued. In the period that followed the
party gave itself an organisational structure, and from 1890 onwards
the first May Manifestations May Day Mai were held in all parts of
the monarchy. A series of associations were founded which aimed at
achieving universal suffrage ( electoral law). The Social Democrats
successfully canvassed the support of workers in certain industries,
such as factory and railway workers. Under the influence of these
developments, far-reaching social and workers' protection legislation
was passed (works inspectors, 1883; Accident Insurance, 1887; Health
Insurance, 1888). In the struggle for these achievements the Trade
Unions assumed increasing importance as the second pillar of the
workers' movement.
\\
The social encyclical "Rerum novarum" promulgated by Pope
Leo XIII in 1891 inspired the creation of a Christian workers'
movement Christian Socialist Movement. Christian workers'
associations were later founded, and in 1902 they united to form a
"Reichsverband" of non-political associations of Christian
workers under L. Kunschak. They held their first conference in Vienna
in 1907 but remained much weaker than the Social-Democratic
organisations.
\\
After massive demonstrations the Social-Democratic workers' movement
achieved a major political success when universal suffrage (for men)
was introduced, under which the members of the Abgeordnetenhaus were
elected for the first time in 1907. The Social Democrats obtained 87
out of a total of 516 seats. In 1911, increases in food prices
resulted in major demonstrations.
\\
In the last years of the First World War the workers' movement
reorganised, and in January 1918 workers were given a share in efforts
to ensure the supply of vitally needed goods to the population. In
October/November 1918 the social democratic workers' movement played
an important role in the foundation of the First Republic. It shared
governmental powers up to 1920 and successfully pressed for major
legislation in the fields of education and social affairs. When they
left the government, the Social Democrats implemented their programme
in Vienna and several other cities in which they had a majority. In
this context, particular importance attached to the "free Unions".
However, the Social-Democratic workers' movement was confronted with
competition from the emerging Austrian Communist Party, though the
latter failed to rise to a politically important position in Austria.
Throughout the First Republic the Social-Democratic workers' movement
was fully committed to the ideas of Austromarxism, it tried to
develop new forms of cultural life and living ("New Man"), and
promoted sports, education and a new attitude to the home, but in so
doing it remained strictly aloof from the bourgeois groups. In the
field of sports, the Workers' Olympics of 1931 constituted a
particular highlight. The Christian workers' movement, which relied on
the support of the Christian trade unions, remained comparatively
weak, and it was only when the Corporate State proscribed
Social-Democratic organisations that their protagonists rose to
leading positions. While they tried to organise a unitary trade union
federation, they failed to reconcile the Social Democrats. Similarly,
the National Socialist state tried to influence the workers; it
passed a number of far-reaching social laws and introduced such
organisations as the "Deutsche Arbeitsfront" ("German Labour
Front") and the "Kraft durch Freude" ("Strength through
Joy") movement.
\\
In line with the social changes that had come about, the workers'
movement re-emerged after 1945 in a modified form. The overwhelming
majority of Austrians opted for a democratic system and rejected all
forms of dictatorship (fascism, communism). While all the political
parties tried to organise the workers ( Arbeiter- und
Angestelltenbund), the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions was
founded as an organisation that embraced all political parties. As the
social conditions of the workers improved, the workers' movement also
enjoyed a new standing, in particular since social rights were secured
and further developed by a wealth of new laws. Access to social
betterment was easier and social decline as a group phenomenon was
rare. The number of blue-collar workers declined relative to that of
white-collar workers. New kinds of social problems arose in the 1960s
on account of the influx of foreign workers ( Employment of Aliens)
and seasonal Unemployment, although, in comparison to many other
European countries, unemployment continued to remain relatively low in
Austria.
\\
The "Verein zur Geschichte der Arbeiterbewegung"
(Association for the Study of the History of the Labour Movement),
which was founded in 1959, holds regular meetings and issues
publications.
!Literature
H. Steiner, Bibliographie zur Geschichte der
oesterrichischen Arbeiterbewegung, 3 vols., 1962-1970; H.
Hautmann and R. Kropf, Die oesterreichische Arbeiterbewegung vom
Vormaerz bis 1945, 1977; W. Haeusler, Von der Massenarmut zur
Arbeiterbewegung, 1979; E. Bruckmueller, Sozialgeschichte
Oesterreichs, 1985; W. Maderthaner, Die Arbeiterbewegung in
Oesterreich und Ungarn bis 1914, 1986.
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