Is AMS cutting funding?

End of flagship project drives people onto the streets

Eibetex employees and project sympathizers took to the streets in solidarity.

(Bild: René Denk)

The Public Employment Service (AMS) wants to make substantial savings in the Waldviertel region - and is targeting a model project in Waidhofen an der Thaya that has been in existence for a third of a century. This has met with huge opposition in the region. ÖVP Federal Councillor Viktoria Hutter and all 15 mayors (14 ÖVP) in the district give the new AMS boss and party colleague Sandra Kern a clear "no-go".

The announcement by AMS boss Sandra Kern to relocate projects for the long-term unemployed to the Weinviertel caused a severe shock in the already structurally weak Waldviertel region. This means that the exemplary labor market and social project Eibetex in Waidhofen an der Thaya with 47 employees (five apprenticeships) is threatened with closure.

Federal Councillor Viktoria Hutter and all the mayors of the district are also fighting to save the project, which has been running for 33 years. Eibetex is funded by the AMS with a maximum of one million euros. Because the company generates 330,000 euros itself through many orders, the project costs this amount less.

The Eibetex employees have now taken to the streets. They took extra leave to do so. Trade unionists, pensioners and people who had been helped back on their feet by the project joined in. "And if we're not heard here, we'll be on the bus to St. Pölten," affirmed trade unionist Andreas Hitz.

What those affected say
The "Krone" also spoke to the demonstrators about what Eibetex means to them and how the showcase project has helped them:

Martina Kittenberger (43): "As a single mother of three children, I can only work in the mornings because there is no afternoon care in our community. In the Eibetex work project, I was able to work so that I could make ends meet. And I was also able to find a real job through the Eibetex work project that allows me to work purely in the mornings."

(Bild: René Denk)

Christoph Dangl (32): "I no longer wanted to work shifts, but I couldn't get a job. I soon became a foreman at Eibetex. Since June, I've been permanently employed there as a work supervisor."

(Bild: René Denk)

Karin Meiringer (60): "My health meant I could no longer work shifts. Nobody would take me on at 56. I was able to work as a seamstress at Eibetex - they look after people there and I was allowed to retire here. You come there with your head down and after six or eight months you go back out into life with your head held high."

(Bild: René Denk)

"No climate stickers"
It was astonishing that not a single driver honked their horn, even though the intersection in the city center was blocked for more than five minutes. Another sign of how strongly the region's parade project is supported. Hitz then declared the campaign over: "We're not climate stickers." Meanwhile, the AMS referred to talks on a possible realignment, which are due to begin on Wednesday. The aim is to clarify how the labor market project can be continued.