Aflenz Rehabilitation Centre: Staff and Mayors Take Jobs Fight Straight to Styria's Leaders
Published on 10/25/2026 at 02:30 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Union representatives at a Styrian rehabilitation clinic have joined forces with three local mayors to demand that the regional government spell out what it intends to do about the facility and its 130 jobs.
Their appeal takes the form of cross-party open letters addressed to Governor Mario Kunasek and Health Councillor Karlheinz Kornhäusl. Signatories want firm commitments and face-to-face talks, plus a concrete plan to keep the Aflenz site running over the long term.
Leading the push are works council chairs Eva Hirschmanner and Michael Horwath. They are backed by Hubert Lenger, mayor of Aflenz, Christian Polaschek of Thörl and Stefan Hofer of Turnau. SPÖ regional leader Max Lercher has also voiced support, describing the joint approach as an important signal for the whole of Upper Styria.
What lies behind the campaign
Uncertainty over the centre's future has been building for months. The operator, the Pensionsversicherungsanstalt (PVA), the national pension insurance body, is concentrating its expansion efforts on its site in St. Radegund, while officially hunting for a new operator for Aflenz.
Options under discussion include a revised concept with additional beds and several operating models, ranging from a complete handover to a junior partnership arrangement.
Alongside the search, the PVA and the province are negotiating a transitional care offer. According to an SPÖ release, the PVA has indicated it sees cooperation with the province — for instance through transitional care beds — as its preferred route.
Styria has shown interest in such a solution but has so far kept its distance and is unlikely to step in as main operator, though a partnership is still considered possible.
Workforce already took to the streets
For the 130 people on the payroll, the absence of a deal means more waiting. They are not new to the fight: in the spring, staff at the centre held a public demonstration calling for the site to be kept open permanently.
With their latest move, the works council and the municipal leaders are pressing for quick answers on who will run the centre and how it will be funded — clarity they say is needed both for employees and for health care in the region.
