Putting employees at the centre of the transformation – investments in climate-friendly infrastructure ensure employment growth
Ebensee (OTS) – Around 1,000 works council members from all sectors represented by the PRO-GE union took part in a conference today, Thursday, entitled “Future of Work – Work of the Future” at the Ebensee Saline. Issues of industrial and location policy as well as advancing digitalization were discussed. Experts from science, industry and interest groups provided input on the current status and presented concepts on how the change processes can be shaped positively.
In his welcoming statement, the Federal Chairman of the Production Union, Reinhold Binder, once again called for a forward-looking industrial and location policy that focuses on generating added value in Europe: “Instead of considering serious strategies, part of the government is keeping the public busy with show politics. What is urgently needed, however, are massive investments in research and development in order not to completely lose touch with China in the field of electromobility, for example. And we must invest in training and further education measures. Employees must be placed at the center of the transformation process. After all, one of Austria’s locational advantages is its well-trained specialists. We must ensure that we secure our future and do not squander this lead.”
Hannes Androsch, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Österreichische Salinen AG, also referred to the importance of education in his opening remarks: “After the industrial age with smoking chimneys, we are increasingly in the digital age of smoking heads. New qualifications are required for the tasks associated with this. We must align our entire education and training system with this so that everyone can meet the new challenges that arise.”
In his presentation, Karl-Heinz Klausner, Chairman of the Central Works Council at Salinen Austria, outlined the developments at the saltworks and the associated changes for employees. “The saltworks is the oldest industrial culture with a history spanning more than a thousand years, which can be traced back to salt mining in Hallstatt. But one thing will certainly not change in the future: the most important capital of any company will always be its employees with their skills, knowledge and motivation,” said Klausner.
In the first topic block, Julia Eder and Lukas Oberndorfer from the Chamber of Labor spoke about industrial and location policy. For Julia Eder, the strong industrial base in Austria must be maintained. Up to 1.5 million workers are directly employed in the domestic industry or their jobs depend on industry. Eder calls, among other things, for a focus on a “selective industrial policy” that builds up future sectors and makes the restructuring of existing industries socially acceptable.
“The prevailing climate policy does not give enough consideration to the social question. We need a socio-ecological transformation for the many,” adds Lukas Oberndorfer. Oberndorfer presented the Vienna Chamber of Labor’s plan for a social and ecological transformation and pointed out the opportunities for employees if this necessary transformation process is well supported by the public sector and investments are made in climate-friendly infrastructure. By 2030, this could create 80,000 jobs in industry and construction.
The second topic block was about digitization and artificial intelligence (AI). In her presentation, Hilda Tellioglu, Dean of Studies for Computer Science at TU Wien, argued for the creation of more transparency in order to reduce fears about AI systems and ensure more quality. More explanation is therefore fundamentally needed, for example which algorithms and models are used or which categories an AI sorts and compares.
Whenever something new is developed, you always have to ask what impact it will have on society and on people. This is also confirmed by Kurt Hofstädter, CEO of the Industry 4.0 platform. Digitalization in industrial production is about competitiveness. It is about speed, flexibility, quality and efficiency. But it is crucial to take employees along. “People decide on the success of the digital factory; without people it will not work,” emphasized Kurt Hofstädter.
Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/proge/albums/72177720317878534
(Free use with photo credit “Gewerkschaft PRO-GE/ Silvia Reitmaier”)
Inquiries & Contact:
PRO-GE Public Relations
Mathias Beer
Tel.: 01 53 444 69035
Mobil: 0664 6145 920
E-Mail: mathias.beer@proge.at
Web: www.proge.at
#PROGE #union #works #council #members #conference #location #policy #digitalisation #Ebensee