Cameras during voting

ORF works council election: Accusations of surveillance

The ORF center in Vienna

(Bild: Peter Tomschi)

A row over a works council election at ORF. In a letter submitted to "Krone", employees make serious accusations about video surveillance in the voting booths. They want to appeal to the labor and social court with the letter.

Journalist Alexander Schrems is the new head of the works council at the ORF general management. He replaces Konrad Mitschka in this function. However, the works council election on February 19 and 20 is overshadowed by serious allegations.

According to an anonymous letter from ORF employees obtained by "Krone", the room (the atrium) in which the election was held was allegedly equipped with surveillance cameras. "Cameras were fixed above both voting booths, which did not allow votes to be cast unobserved and without fear," the letter states, among other things.

Labor and social court
The disgruntled employees also claim that a mirrored window allowed them to see into both voting booths. According to one of the employees, there is an increasingly "repressive climate" towards journalists at ORF. The plan is now to take the letter to the Labor and Social Court.

ORF denies
ORF firmly rejects the "absurd" accusations. "The Hugo Portisch Atrium in the ORF Center is an event room and as such is naturally equipped with cameras for broadcasting events or presentations. During the works council election of the Directorate General, these cameras were of course not activated, nor was the control room occupied. In addition, the voting booth was positioned outside the camera's panning range," the written statement continues.

The works council traditionally has a powerful position at ORF. Among other things, it wants to prevent the disclosure of salaries.