Grete Rehor (1910–1987), born Grete Daurer in Vienna, lost her parents early: her father did not return from the First World War, and her mother died while she was still a teenager. After finishing commercial school, Rehor worked briefly in a textile factory before finding employment as a secretary in the central association of the Christian trade unions. This step started her lifelong engagement with questions of labour and social policy.

From the late 1920s, Rehor became active in the Central Association of Christian Textile Workers. Early on, she developed links beyond Austria, participating in the International Federation of Christian Trade Unions and the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Correspondence Committee on Women’s Work during the interwar years. These early experiences exposed her to debates on women’s employment and working conditions at an international level, an engagement she only strengthened as her political career advanced in Austria.

Portrait of Grete Rehor (Source: Austrian Parliament)

After 1945, Rehor continued her career in the Christian trade union movement, participating in the Fraction of Christian Trade Unionists and taking positions in the union for textile, garment, and leather workers. She worked on reducing wage disparities between men and women, and advocated for the equal pay. She was also involved in maintaining cross-zonal union contacts in occupied Austria, helping to keep national networks functioning under difficult circumstances.

Rehor entered parliament in 1949 for the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP), representing Vienna until 1970. Within the party’s labour association, she founded a women’s section, which grew into its largest branch. She focused on the everyday concerns of working women and families, building on her long trade union experience. Some of her positions, including her exclusionary stance on the rights of labour migrants and promotion of part-time work, attracted sharp critiques.

In 1966, she was appointed Minister for Social Affairs in Josef Klaus’s government, becoming the first woman in Austria to become a minister. She commented at the time: “It is important and right when women also ascend to the highest positions”, linking her appointment to broader demographic and employment realities. During her four years in office, over a hundred social laws were passed, including reforms of pensions, labour protection, and caretaker legislation. After the ÖVP lost the 1970 election, Rehor withdrew from government but continued to work in civil society. She became vice-president of the umbrella organization for associations of disabled persons (ARGE) and chaired groups such as the Youth Friends and the League for Human Rights.

Rehor died in Vienna in 1987. Her service to the Austrian Republic is commemorated with the Grete-Rehor-Park, near Parliament, and the Grete-Rehor State Prize, awarded in for achievements in the areas of education, science, and social innovation.