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The mask affair surrounding Hygiene Austria is still in the news. As is already known, one of the temporary work agencies, whose services are used by the Viennese mask producer Neudorf, has received short-time subsidies. And that he repeated and “possibly wrongly”, so said the lawyer Ulla Reisch, who is handling the bankruptcy of AD Job Assist GmbH. Reisch spoke on ORF radio Tuesday of a “massive impression” that had been imposed during his polls. Which is also explosive: According to a message from the tax authorities on January 21, 2021, AD Job Assist GmbH, which has been insolvent since the end of 2020, is classified as a bogus company according to the Social Fraud Control Act. .
According to the “Wirtschaftscompass”, the tax authorities have also identified Steady Global Partners GmbH, another Hygiene Austria partner, as a front company (in accordance with article 8 of this law). According to the newspaper “Der Standard”, a total of four personnel service providers are said to have worked for the Lenzing-Palmers joint venture, some with poor credit ratings and others without a license to hire workers.
Kocher: multi-time controlled labor inspections
By its own admission, the Chamber of Labor (AK) has found some employees who were temporary workers in Hygiene Austria. They would have an appointment with the AK on Wednesday. In addition, the Chamber of Labor is also in contact with the union, which is also investigating. Despite the size of the company, there is no works council, according to AK.
Hygiene Austria is already under attack by the judiciary. The previous week there were house searches at the production site in Wiener Neudorf and at the Palmers headquarters in Vienna. In the course of the raids, Hygiene Austria admitted that some of the protective crown masks were purchased in China, relabelled and marketed as “Made in Austria”. In addition to the suspicion of serious commercial fraud, the Office also investigates the suspicion of organized undeclared work.
Labor Minister Martin Kocher (ÖVP) said Tuesday that Hygiene Austria had been checked several times by labor inspectorates. However, “no irregularities were discovered.” It may be a criminal act that makes it difficult to uncover grievances, Kocher said.
ATX Lenzing group well connected with China
Earlier in the week, Upper Austrian fiber group Lenzing, which has a 50.1 percent majority in Hygiene Austria, which was founded in spring 2020, surprisingly retired its two CEOs and also its employees from the joint venture. The listed company accused his partner Palmers of preventing the clarification of the case. Lenzing AG, whose role in the matter is still not very clear (after all, it is considered to be well connected with China, it has several plants there), now wants to draw a line in the Hygiene Austria chapter. In this context, he announced that in the future a public accountant would manage his shares in the mask manufacturer.
Hygiene Austria’s remaining CEO, Palmers board member Tino Wieser, said Lenzing had cut contact and no one had left. It rejected allegations that Hygiene Austria had employed undeclared temporary workers. They used three personnel providers and each month they were presented with statements from social security and tax authorities to verify if all employees were properly registered. Lenzing stressed Tuesday that he no longer wanted to comment on the cause.
The scandal of the masks also worries the opposition parties. The SPÖ, FPÖ and Neos see the case as just the “tip of the iceberg” of dubious acquisitions by the turquoise green federal government in connection with the crown pandemic. That is why they want to examine these processes in a “small” commission of inquiry, as they announced on Tuesday. If that’s not enough, there should be a parliamentary commission of inquiry into Covid. (dress)
