3 
for price increase per year. About 20 p.c. of spending perhaps 
are covered by this. 
Wages Subcommittee 
The individual unions have agreed not to start negotiations 
about a collective agreement until the subcommittee has given 
the green light, after a motion by the T.U. Federation. Thus 
there is always a preliminary discussion on every collective 
agreement in the central T.U. organisation. There are no 
official wage guidelines. 
fa-cl/T ■ 
The function of these institutions is to reduce the conflicts 
and to establish a certain coordination of expectations. A 
certain role in this process is played by the quarterly and 
yearly forecasts of GDP and other economic variables, undertaken 
by the Austrian Institute of Economic Research with the co 
operation of "Social partners", ministries and central bank. 
Forecast or "prognosis" is a misnomer. It is a coordination of 
expectations. 
The political basis of social partnership. 
While in the inter-war period the Austrian state was regarded 
as non-viable and hardly accepted by its own citizens, the 
desire to gain and retain independence was strong after the war. 
It was felt that the violent social and political struggles 
of the inter-war period had to be avoided at all cost. This 
was the lesson of history on which the "social partnership" 
was based.