Consumer association
The consumer association (spelling: "Konsumverband" revision association of Austrian consumer cooperatives ) is a cooperative revision association in Austria founded in 1946 in Bad Ischl . Its predecessor was the Central Association of Austrian Consumer Associations , which existed until 1941 .
history
Central Association of Austrian Consumer Associations
In 1903 the Austrian Cooperative Auditing Act came into force, which provided for regular mandatory audits for cooperatives every two years by independent auditors. As a result, with strong support from parts of the Social Democratic Party, the "Central Association of Austrian Consumers" was founded as an independent auditing association. In 1904 the consumer association already belonged to 220 consumer cooperatives. In 1938 it was brought into line and in 1941 it was transferred to the joint venture of the German Labor Front (GW).
Consumer association from 1946
Today's consumer association was founded on the 1st day of the association after the Second World War on May 30, 1946 in the Upper Austrian city of Bad Ischl .
It distinguished itself as a mainly business-oriented advisory and support institution. The auditing function gave the institution a certain amount of power, albeit predominantly over the smaller regional cooperatives. (Although the auditors were employees of the association, they were responsible for drawing their audit reports). For a long time, the solidarity-based supervision test proved to be superior to the mandatory test under stock corporation law . Association director Andreas Vukovich has held a highly respected position in the sector for decades since the 1930s.
The “Konsumverband” revision association of Austrian consumer cooperatives was also involved in the collective bargaining negotiations with the unions.
Compared to large cooperatives such as the consumer cooperative Vienna and the surrounding area (KGW) and, from 1978 onwards, Konsum Österreich , the authority of the association, its auditors and its management proved to be inadequate. After 1995 (the fall of Konsum Austria), the consumer association only leads a shadowy existence with renewed close ties to the cooperative group of the direction Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch (Austrian cooperative association).
The consumer association in the 21st century
The consumer association
In 1995 more than 20 cooperatives were organized in the association, but the number has more than halved by 2011 due to further bankruptcies or liquidations. This mostly happened unnoticed by the general public, only the end of the companies Ausseerland-Konsum in 2000 and Salzkammergut-Konsum in mid-2011 aroused a certain amount of media interest.
In the case of the auditing association, it can be seen in the commercial register at which cooperatives it is conducting the audit. There are currently 10 companies registered, namely
in Vienna
- Konsum Österreich reg.Gen.mbH (company name in the commercial register has now been changed, the current official name of Konsum is: OKAY Team e.Gen. ).
in Vorarlberg
- Consumption Bizau reg.Gen.mbH
- Konsum-Verein Sonntag reg.Gen.mbH
- Consumer association in Mellau e.Gen.
- Consumer association Höchst and the surrounding area reg.Gen.mbH
- Consumers Association Hörbranz reg.Gen.mbH
- Consumer association Schnifis reg.Gen.mbH
- Konsumverein Düns and Dünersberg reg.Gen.mbH
- Konsumverein Übersaxen reg.Gen.mbH
- Consumers Association Silbertal e.Gen
In the other seven Austrian federal states, the revision association is no longer present due to the lack of consumer cooperatives there.
In addition, there are a few other "consumption", but there the consumer association does not appear as a control body, for example at the consumer associations Nüziders and Schwarzenberg (Bregenzerwald). At the company "First Lungauer Wirtschaftsverein", which emerged from the Tamsweg farmers' consumer association, the Raiffeisenverband Salzburg is the auditor.
Cooperation with the Austrian Cooperative Association
On May 15, 2002, the Austrian Cooperative Association (Schulze-Delitzsch) and the Consumers' Association - revision association of Austrian consumer cooperatives, signed a cooperation agreement. This contract regulates the implementation of the revision of the consumer cooperatives by auditors of the cooperative association (ÖGV).
Another point is that the consumer cooperatives have an extraordinary membership in the "goods" area of the Schulze-Delitzsch system. This enables the consumer associations to benefit from the legal, tax and business management advice of the ÖGV and to participate in framework agreements, such as the joint purchase of electricity.
The headquarters of the consumer association was also relocated to the location of the cooperative association in Löwelstrasse (Vienna). After almost 60 years of separation, the cooperatives are now reunited under one roof.
literature
- Johann Brazda , Siegfried Rom (ed.): 150 Years of Consumer Cooperatives in Austria , Vienna 2006.
- Robert Schediwy: The cooperative association examination Vienna 1972.
- Emile Vandervelde : Neutral and socialist cooperative movement , JHW Dietz, Berlin 1974, especially S 72 (reprint of the first edition from 1914).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Cooperative Letter . Bulletin of the Raiffeisenverband Oberösterreich. No. 278 December 2008. Page 8 (pdf). Raiffeisenverband Oberösterreich, December 1, 2008, accessed on April 19, 2016 .
- ↑ collective agreements of the consumer association. Proge. The Manufacturing Union, October 1, 2010, accessed April 19, 2016 .
- ↑ Konsum Austria and the successor cooperative OKAY Team registered cooperative with limited liability. Parliamentary question . Republic of Austria, Parliament, February 18, 2015, accessed on October 18, 2015 .
- ↑ OKAY team registered cooperative. Herold, February 18, 2015, accessed October 18, 2015 .
- ↑ Company register query with search term: consumption, printed on August 2, 2011
- ↑ Cooperations. (No longer available online.) Österreichischer Genossenschaftsverband Schulze-Delitzsch, May 17, 2002, archived from the original on July 21, 2015 ; Retrieved July 17, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ ÖGV and consumer association signed a cooperation agreement. Wiener Zeitung , May 17, 2002, accessed on July 17, 2015 .
