No drawer fits

Model project stumbles

The Eibetex work project has been in existence for more than 30 years. In the battle for a new direction, help could now finally be at hand.

(Bild: Imre Antal)

Eibetex is the "egg-laying wool-milk sow" of work projects. The AMS has made massive cuts, and a consultant is now to restructure the social jewel - as well as other projects throughout Lower Austria, which are struggling due to the cutbacks. Nobody seems to care - at least until now.

Have they locked themselves out? Can no longer tend your garden or do your own ironing? Or can no longer afford decent clothes? Where there is not a single locksmith left in the entire district, the Eibetex work project has been around for more than 30 years.

Ecological and sustainable
And there, in Waidhofen an der Thaya, they also take on sustainable ecological tasks, for example with the alteration tailoring or by "refurbishing" an entire school center, as ÖVP city councilor Johann Böhm from Groß Siegharts reports: "80 percent of the old furniture was refurbished. These are pieces that are no longer available in this quality today and that will now last for decades!"

The multifaceted work project is the "egg-laying wool-milk sow" in the region. Now, however, the AMS has severely cut funding. To ensure its survival, it is hiring a company consultant. A scaled-down version was presented at the open day - the store in the Böhmgasse shopping street in Waidhofen, for example, has now been integrated into the main Eibetex location near the train station.

A dirndl for less than 50 euros or a leather jacket for 15 euros? These bargains, presented by Manuela Seiberl and Christina Hoffmann, are available in the second-hand store, which has now moved from the shopping street to the main location at the train station.

(Bild: Imre Antal)

Johann Böhm and trade unionist Andreas Hitz are proud of the sustainable woodwork at Karl Gratzl.

(Bild: Imre Antal)

The upcycling workshop run by Irene Pichl, Manuela Stangl and Doris Lehner is also sustainable.

(Bild: Imre Antal)

Innovative concept doesn't fit into any box
Together with six other social enterprises, which also came under the red pencil at the AMS, they now want to implement the EU concept of the "real laboratory". "This allows us to try out in a safe environment which directions the companies can take," says Karl Immervoll. The Catholic company chaplain played a leading role in setting up more than ten work and social projects.

The real-world laboratory concept developed by the EU is intended to give the social projects a new structure. Neither the AMS nor four provincial councils have been interested so far.

Karl Immervoll, Experte beim Aufbau neuer Arbeits- und Sozialprojekte

Bild: Antal Imre/Imre Antal

No clear responsibility
However, just like the versatile Eibetex, the Reallabor is unlikely to fit into any one category: Although the state councillors Christiane Teschl-Hofmeister, Susanne Rosenkranz, Stephan Pernkopf and Ulrike Königsberger-Ludwig were approached, no one felt responsible. The situation will now be clarified on request. But time is pressing.