'We Will Resist With All Means': Austrians Protest 60-Hour Work Week

Last week, tens of thousands of people in Vienna, Austria, protested new draft labor laws in the country, which extend the work day and the work week to 12 and 60 hours, respectively.

According to the country's police, around 100,000 people participated in the protests, according to Reuters.

— ÖGB (@oegb_at) June 30, 2018

"We will resist with all means at our disposal," Wolfgang Katzian, president of the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB), told the crowd, urging the Austrian government to allow people to vote on a 12-hour work day in a referendum. The country's current law defines full time employment — for healthcare and other benefits — as eight hours a day and 40 hours a week.

The new law will also no longer pay overtime, according to reports.

The demonstration is the first to occur since Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz took office at the end of 2017. According to Kurz's conservative People's Party (ÖVP) and the far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ), labor hours need to be extended to provide businesses with additional flexibility for hiring and firing.

The new draft law is nonetheless expected to be passed by the Austrian parliament this Thursday.