Dear colleagues, friends and people in solidarity!
Now the time has come, our first newsletter is here! ;)
We want to give you an overview of our activities so far, but above all we want to present our plans for the coming year.
The first year: nightmarish working conditions…
IG24 has been active for two years now; the first year still informal, but efficient. It was marked by the pandemic, by closed borders, by politicians and agency owners who spectacularly staged special transports of hundreds of colleagues to Austria. Behind the scenes there were nightmarish working conditions: Tours that often lasted several months in complete isolation, weeks of unpaid quarantine and PCR tests that had to be paid for. Outside of Austria, many colleagues found themselves without access to work and thus their livelihoods were at risk. There was a lack of information in the first language. The hardship fund and the “Bleibdabonus” were characterised by discriminatory hurdles.
…counter the impositions:
IG24 activists tried to counter these impositions by offering first language counselling or crisis intervention for completely overburdened colleagues.
Under great media attention, we wrote an open letter to remove the hurdles in the hardship fund and started a very successful initiative with the Ombudsman Board. The time of intensive networking and public relations work began: first interviews were given, first articles written, first conferences but also first demonstrations attended.
The second year: The association IG24, DREPT, Iniciativa24 – organising and access to counselling
In December 2020, IG24 was institutionalised as an association, one year later DREPT (the organisation of the Romanian caregiver community) and Iniciativa24 (the organisation of the Slovakian caregiver community) became part of IG24.
In addition to the sudden increase in public attention for this precarious but systemically relevant sector, we have now managed to increase access to information and counselling in the first language. Among others, there are the low-threshold and free counselling centres of Volkshilfe, CuraFAIR in Vienna, Graz and Linz, where activists of IG24 also work. We recently wrote an information brochure together with CuraFAIR.
In April 2021, we went online with a comprehensive range of information, initially only in German, but now also in Romanian, Slovakian, Bulgarian, English, Hungarian and BKS!
Also in April 2021, we won the audience and main prize of the SOZIALMARIE, which brought us a lot of prestige, but also a financial basis for our voluntary and donation-based association.
We were part of the Amnesty campaign on the working conditions in 24H care that violate human rights. On the occasion of Carers’ Day, IG24 organised a Carers’ Café in Vienna for the first time, which has taken place regularly since then – except for interruptions due to lockdown.
For 2022, we are looking forward to implementing some important projects that we consider milestones in the struggle for better working conditions in this sector.
+ Crowdfunding for a trial against bogus self-employment
We are aiming for a test case against bogus self-employment, because the enforcement of socially secure employment relationships is a core part of our work. In order to finance this process, we have started a crowdfunding campaign. We are asking for your support in this way!
+ Care4Care: From precarious to safe working conditions
In April 2022, IG24 in cooperation with LEFÖ-IBF will start the project “Care4Care: From precarious to safe working conditions”, which aims to improve the working conditions of 24-hour caregivers. In this cross-border project, we cooperate with partner organisations and interest groups in Romania and Slovakia. At the end of the project, each country will have concrete proposals for solutions that will contribute to safe labour migration. IG24 focuses in this project on the elaboration of an employment model.
+ Guerilla Foundation Project:
Also in April, we will start a project that will enable us to implement our mutual aid network beyond social media and digital form, also spatially. A room is to be rented that will serve as an office for the activists working on a voluntary basis, but will also provide a place for carers to meet and exchange ideas.
+ Our work, our rights!
In July 2022, we will start the implementation of the project Our Work, Our Rights within the framework of the AK Digitisation Fund. This project is dedicated to digital possibilities by means of which caregivers can be objectively informed and supported by online counselling offers. The aim is to show them their rights and possibilities for action, among other things in the context of (sexualised) assaults. Digital training opportunities should be offered with regard to their status as lay carers in order to improve the professional position of 24-hour carers.
Support our work: translate, donate, support!
As you can see, the list of our activities is extensive. We therefore welcome people who want to expand our circle of supporters, volunteer translators and of course donors and multipliers for the process against bogus self-employment!
Thank you for your support and interest!
Yours,
IG24