The recent elections in Austria saw polarisation to the left and to the right. The old government was punished, but the weak programmes of the Social Democrats and the Communist Party failed to create enthusiasm. Instead, the FPÖ won the election, basing themselves on fierce demagogic opposition to the status quo.

From 22 March to 24 March, the annual national congress of the Austrian section of the International Marxist Tendency (IMT) took place. 225 participants discussed the crisis of capitalism, the upswing of the class struggle and the tasks of communists – worldwide and in Austria.

As we recently reported, comrades of the International Marxist Tendency in Austria are under attack from the state apparatus for opposing the oppression of the Palestinian people. Two comrades have been falsely accused of ‘supporting terrorism’ for promoting the IMT’s statement against the war on Gaza. Below is an update on the legal case against our comrades Alex and Sonja. This is followed by some reports of the incredible wave of solidarity that our comrades have received.

In yet another scandalous attack on freedom of expression, a number of our Austrian comrades have been summoned by a state prosecutor for their support for the IMT and Palestine. We thoroughly reject the baseless accusations of the Austrian state, and express our complete solidarity with the comrades subject to this attack.

Bourgeois democracy in Austria is in a senile crisis. Like in other countries in Europe, the Hamas attacks of 7 October have been used to whip up a reactionary mood. Muslim migrants and the communists of Der Funke (the IMT in Austria) are at the centre of these political attacks, with reformist leaders of Social Democracy and Communist Party actively persecuting party members who stand in solidarity with the Palestinians.

This year’s Pfingstseminar, the annual seminar of the Austrian section of the International Marxist Tendency (IMT), was the largest ever, with over 200 participants. It was a truly internationalist seminar with many comrades from Germany, Switzerland, Czechia, Hungary, Britain and Yugoslavia, and it was a great success.

Over the last weekend, from 3-6 June, what everyone attending agreed was “the best Pfingst Seminar ever”,  was held in an idyllic spot in Upper Austria. With over 170 participants, it was the biggest seminar the Austrian section of the International Marxist Tendency (IMT) has ever organised. 

Last weekend saw mass demonstrations in Vienna, Linz, Salzburg, Bregenz and other Austrian towns, involving tens of thousands of people. These protests were a response to the recent announcement of a fourth national lockdown due to an explosion of COVID-19 cases. This will be followed by mandatory vaccination next year. The rotten Austrian establishment has totally bungled its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dividing the working class by blaming ‘stupid’ individuals for dragging out the crisis offers no solution, and neither does denying the importance of vaccination. Only a class analysis can explain what is going on and put the blame for this disaster where it belongs: with the

The municipal elections in Austria’s second-biggest city, Graz, were a political earthquake. The victory of the Communist Party of Austria (KPÖ) shows a categorical rejection of the hated bourgeois establishment that has managed the city for years, and opens up a perspective of a broad offense against social welfare cuts and an end to Graz’s tenure as a private investors’ paradise.

At 8pm on Monday, gunmen armed with assault rifles opened fire on the streets of Vienna. So far there are reports of four deaths and 15 wounded, of which seven are in a critical condition. Starting in Seitenstettengasse, the attackers carried out shootings at six different places in the inner district of the city. In addition to the civilian casualties, one of the attackers has been shot by police forces. An unknown number of other terrorists have, for now, managed to escape into the city. This is the first major terrorist attack in Austria in 45 years.

The protest movement sparked by the brutal police murder of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, in Minneapolis has spread around the world. In over 20 countries, workers and youth marched and demonstrated against racism, both in the USA and locally. Comrades of the IMT have been participating in these protests, raising slogans for the revolutionary overthrow of the inherently racist capitalist system.

The following article was written at the end of February and the first days of March, just before the world was hit by the crash of the stock markets on the 9 March and the full impact of the coronavirus pandemic. This sharp change in the situation obviously also changes the plans of the ruling class. But the underlying economic and political tendencies at play are still the same, although the issue of climate change obviously was pushed to the background. In the case of the Green parties, their character as parties of the ruling class is even-further confirmed in these times of crisis.

Health and safety is not the first priority of the Austrian government - despite all its solemn assertions. The government sees its primary task in ‘protecting Austria’s appeal as a business location’. This is the lesson to be drawn from the three new legislative packages that result in the revision of 85 statutes and create 7 new ones. The new sweeping laws have been passed in a split vote by a majority. Only votes against came from FPÖ and NEOS.

Europe is facing its greatest emergency since World War II. It is important that we follow the requests of the health authorities and physically isolate ourselves. We support this measure in content and practice. But we are on the side of working people. Our programme represents the practical will and the social interests of those who keep this country running, even in times of crisis. We sharply criticise the managers and bosses, who even now continue to force workers to do non-essential work.

The morning shift of a metalworking factory in Linz-Bindermichl, Linz went on coronavirus strike on 18 March, according to news website laumat.at. Strikers in Linz protested outside their factory gates on 18 March against the bosses’ irresponsible behaviour. Management refused to take any security precautions against the possibility of infection with the Coronavirus whatsoever. The workers ended their strike “under protest”, and took up tools after around two hours, when foremen and the factory committee jointly broke the strike.