Women stage symbolic strike over pay, pensions and care work

Women staged a symbolic strike outside parliament in Vienna on Saturday to protest pay and pension inequality and the unequal distribution of care work, ORF reported.

Demonstrators sat on red blankets and cushions, symbolically stopping work and spending time “doing nothing”. The action, called the Women’s Strike, was described by its organisers as a feminist intervention for gender equality.

“When women take a break, when they stop working, society in Austria comes to a standstill,” said Klaudia Frieben, chair of the Austrian Women’s Ring, before the event. Organiser Julia “starsky” Zdarsky said the strike would continue until the demands were met or the country was brought to a standstill.

The organisers cited a successful historic strike in Iceland whose 51st anniversary fell on October 24. They said 2,500 to 3,000 people took part in the first strike outside parliament last year and hoped for 5,000 participants this time.

The demands include equal pay for equal work, a self-determined life free from violence, a fairer division of care work and pensions, and legally mandated quotas in politics and business. Frieben said the aim was to put “half of the power in women’s hands”. Organisers also pointed to the low number of men taking parental leave and to income and pension gaps.