Disrupting Business

65 Years of Harmony Among the Classes

An acoustical (de-)construction

Maloche

Live audio theater

The multilingual audio theater explores the role of social partnership as a support for harmoniousness among the classes. Using topics such as strikes or guest labor, a story is told about how social partnership suppresses, prevents or undermines unpleasant labor disputes.

Social partnership is just as Austrian as Wiener Schnitzel and everyday racism. Since the postwar era, social partners – the Chamber of Labor and the Federation of Trade Unions, the Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber of Agriculture – are working together with the government parties to agree upon how wage policies and labor migration should be regulated. In the light of so much agreement between employers and employees, it is not very surprising that there have not been any large-scale labor disputes against the will of the social partners for a period of 65 years.

After suppressing the October Strike of 1950 – the largest strike movement of Austria's Second Republic so far – uprisings of laborers have only been successful if they demanded operational improvements that were also of benefit to the Social Democrat and Christian-conservative advocacy groups. However, what role did social partnership otherwise play in suppressing and preventing strikes and uprisings? In addition to this, what type of influence has it had in preventing the organization of migrants for example?

Using topics such as strikes, the obligation to work and guest labor, the multilingual audio theater investigates the effect of social partnership as an instrument of harmoniousness among the classes. Here, "guest workers" and refugees, trade union bosses and those on strike get a chance to talk, telling their own story – as well as telling a piece of Austrian contemporary history. To this end, using specific disputes as examples, the piece is set in various areas: on the street, in a factory, in the media and at the parliament. It reveals how social partnership has contributed and continues to contribute to maintaining conditions of inequality, for example, regarding the role of women within the scope of labor disputes, the employment ban placed upon refugees or the strike ban placed upon "guest workers".

A radio play for all those that do not want to be forced into a state of harmony.

In cooperation with the 7th Audio class of the Brigittenau High School and Radio ORANGE 94.0. Funded special project of the Students' Union of the University of Vienna.