Viennese police in front of overtime cut: A savings package threatens!

Viennese police in front of overtime cut: A savings package threatens!

Austria's police faces drastic financial incisions. Because of a tense federal budget, the Ministry of the Interior must implement a number of savings measures that affect the overtime of the police officers in Vienna in particular. According to internal documents available to the APA, flat -rate overtime is reduced by 30 percent and individual overtime hours. This represents a massive intervention that also affects other state police directorates. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) mentioned that these savings are described as "normal temporary precautionary measures", while the police fear that this could be the beginning of a larger savings wave, such as Kosmo reported.

The financial difficulties of Austria, which drive the deficit over the Maastricht limit of three percent of GDP specified by the EU, require a reduction of 15 percent in the event of factual effort. According to the Ministry of the Interior, however, it is emphasized that the “Service Police as a whole” should remain unaffected by the cuts in order not to endanger security. However, critics like Walter Strallhofer from FSG warn that the service is very endangered. Due to the overtime regulations, a twelve-hour Sunday service now requires two civil servants instead of one, which also exacerbates the situation, such as OE24 noted.

In Vienna, all overtime on Sundays and public holidays also falls under the drake, and rewards for outstanding services are suspended. The measures are justified with a budget provision that has been in the case since January and has highlighted the need for a federal budget that is still pending. The Ministry of the Interior plans to evaluate the measures after the entry into force of a new budget and, if necessary, to withdraw. The situation remains tense, while concerns about the further reducing implementability of the police work are getting louder, since the security forces are already reaching their limits.