The corporation offers fixed-term transit work-places for unemployed women in textile industry as well as training and social-pedagogic assistance. By these means women should get better opportunities to return to the labour market.

In 1989 some engaged people of the region developed together with the local office of the Labour Market Service the concept of an employment initiative in the field textile production. The aim was to revitalize the region's historical past as a textile area. New paths and niches were searched and found in the development of ecological-textile. A new brand was developed (natura linea) which carried the marketing activities. A business-corporation for product distribution was founded, which originally should commercialize also other regional products.

However, this corporation went bankrupt in 1998. The textile workshop suffered great financial losses and had to reduce its staff. Target group in the beginning were people with disabilities, the focus changed to long-term unemployed women in 1994/95. Due to the high standard of the manufactured products, the necessary professionalism and exactness could not be provided by people suffering from disabilities.

One of the difficulties at the start was the great amount of development work necessary in order combine the specific target group, the product, the market, i.e. to get socio-political, ecological objectives and economic efficiency under one umbrella.

14 full-time-transit-work-places are offered; 11 in production, 3 in sale, a technician for house maintenance and office. Target group are (long-term) unemployed people with personal deficiencies. In general they work 38,5 hs/ week, part-time work is also possible. Preconditionary are interest in the field of work, no respective know-how is necessary, but due to the economic situation the level of demanded experience has to be raised.

After the first interview and a probation visit, future procedures are developed together with the social worker. Social coaching accompanies the work. Intensive initial training is supplemented by specific training measures. After 9 months the transit-workers work as probationers in different partner-enterprises. The final phase is devoted to active search for durable employment and may last up to 3 months. The number of people in insertion is by 80% (but varies considerably).

Social and Indirect Effects
The region Waldviertel in Lower Austria is a structurally weak area, offering few employment possibilities. Revitalizing the traditional field of textile industry in the area is a measure to counteract these problems and supporting the current restructuring process. The social impact of the initiative on the target group is to be seen in the combination of social, economic and ecological objectives: long-term unemployed people obtain work-experience, theoretical and practical training, support in personal and social problems, they gain self-confidence and are enabled to take further steps towards durable employment.

Assessment-Innovation-transferability
The innovative aspect of this initiative can be seen in the presentation of a niche-product and application of traditional manufacturing techniques (manual weaving); production of garment collections made of environment-friendly treated natural fibre-textiles (e.g. linen) and commercializing under a proper brand Natura Linea as well as design development for natural fibre-textiles and ecological garment collections.

Innovative is also the idea to introduce ecologically produced garments into the field of work clothing (in the field of health professions), which is presently done. Transferability of the project is possible if innovative aspects are developed, given the consideration that the textile industry is declining. In particular, the project appears transferable into other structurally weak areas. Some textile projects have been indeed developed in Vienna and the province of Burgenland, on the model of Textilwerkstatt.

Prospects
Textilwerkstatt had to take over the debts of the Distribution Corporation, which involved a high risk for the initiative. In the course of this year the maintenance of the project will be decided. Furthermore, the intensification of external relations to companies and the active search for workplaces for the transit workers are projected.

Textilwerkstatt is involved in the project PRO-TEX (Community Initiative ADAPT) to develop measures for higher qualification of textile workers (developing an extensive data-base on demands, job offers, training and production and providing a specific training programme for key personnel in the textile industry to prepare the companies for ecological and quality management certification).

Textilwerkstatt
Mr. Andreas Höritzauer (Vocational Counsellor), tel. +43 2847 31 94 14

01/01/1989

case

Urban Policy

Social inclusion & integration