Worker Cooperative

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Worker cooperative - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A worker coperative is a cooperative owned and democratically controlled by its employees. ... The worker-members' relation with their cooperative shall be ...
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~ Workers' Cooperative, Inc. ~
Workers Magazine. Cooperative Leadership. Financial Services. Press Release ... Vote for membership of Worker's Cooperative Board of Directors. ü ...
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Toolbox_employee_ownership final
... Worker Cooperative Toolbox ... in a Worker-Owned Cooperative . . . . . .9 ... 34. iv Worker Cooperative Toolbox. BUSINESS MANAGEMENT . . . . . .35 ...
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About Worker Cooperatives | US Federation of Worker Cooperatives
The international worker cooperative federation CICOPA established some basic ... The worker cooperative movement is increasingly recognized as part of the larger ...
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Worker Ownership Fund
Providing loans, technical assistance, and housing development services to the Midwest cooperative community. ... Cooperative Housing Development Services ...
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Cooperative - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
... about cooperative businesses and the cooperative movement. Includes ... a cooperative, that is owned and democratically controlled by its "worker-owners" ...
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ParIT Worker Co-operative - ParIT
We are a worker owned, worker controlled business operating in Winnipeg, Canada. ... Discussion of Major flaw in DNS 2008-07-26 ...
parit.ca

Equal Exchange - Worker Owned
Equal Exchange: Fairly Traded Gourmet Coffee, Tea & Chocolate. ... A worker cooperative is an alternative for-profit structure based upon standard ...
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Welcome | US Federation of Worker Cooperatives
... worker-ownership through the development of a thriving cooperative ... worker-owned, -managed, and -governed workplaces through cooperative education, ...
www.usworker.coop

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A worker cooperative is a cooperative owned and democratically controlled by its employees. There are no outside or consumer owners in a worker cooperative -- only the workers own shares of the business. Only one membership share may be issued to a member. One membership share is the equivalent of one vote. Membership is not compulsory for employees, but only employees can become members.Ontario Worker Co-op Federation "What is a Worker Co-op?" http://www.ontarioworker.coop/what_is_a_worker_coop.htmCanadian Worker Co-op Federation "What is a Worker Co-op?" http://www.canadianworker.coop/english/4/index_e431.html But in India there is a most progressive application of worker cooperative which insists compulsory membership for all employees and compulsory employment for all members. That is the form of the famous Indian Coffe House movement. This system is the brain child of the legendary communist leader of India A. K. Gopalan.

History of worker cooperatives Historically, worker cooperatives rose to prominence during the industrial revolution as part of the labour movement. As employment moved to industrial areas and job sectors declined, workers began organizing and controlling businesses for themselves. Most early worker co-ops did not adhere to clear cooperative structures or ideologies. Starting in the 1830s, worker cooperatives were formed by hat makers, bakers, and garment workers.

In the United States there is no coherent legislation regarding worker cooperatives nationally, much less Federal laws, so most worker cooperatives make use of traditional consumer cooperative law and try to fine-tune it for their purposes. In some cases the members (workers) of the cooperative in fact "own" the enterprise by buying a share that represents a fraction of the market value of the cooperative.

When the current cooperative movement resurfaced in the 1960s it developed mostly on a new system of "collective ownership" where par value shares were issued as symbolic of egalitarian voting rights. Once brought in as a member, after a period of time on probation usually so the new candidate can be evaluated, he or she was given power to manage the coop, without "ownership" in the traditional sense. In the UK this system is known as common ownership.

Some of these early cooperatives still exist and most new worker cooperatives follow their lead and develop a relationship to capital that is more radical than the previous system of equity share ownership.

In Britain this type of cooperative was traditionally known as a producer cooperative, and, while it was overshadowed by the consumer and agricultural types, made up a small section of its own within the national apex body, the Cooperative Union. The 'new wave' of worker cooperatives that took off in Britain in the mid-1970s created the Industrial Common Ownership Movement (ICOM) as a separate federation. Buoyed up by the alternative and ecological movements and by the political drive to create jobs, the sector peaked at around 2,000 enterprises. However the growth rate slowed, the sector contracted, and in 2001 ICOM merged with the Co-operative Union (which was the federal body for consumer cooperatives) to create Co-operatives UK, thus reunifying the cooperative sector.

Trade Unions Trade union are often unnecessary in worker cooperatives as the workers have direct control over the management and ownership of the business - they are negotiating with themselves. Some worker cooperatives still choose to become members of local unions to demonstrate their support for the Labour movement and to working conditions that have resulted from years of struggle. While an unusual situation, there is no contradiction in doing so. Worker cooperatives that join unions often benefit from the trade that comes their way from the community of union members and those who support unions for political reasons. The labor contract negotiated becomes the baseline of benefits due to the membership and guarantees to the community that the working conditions are not unfavorable. Union membership also guarantees that the worker cooperative will not operate on the basis of typical small business sacrifice, where owner(s) sometimes work overtime to keep their business afloat and expect similar sacrifices of their workers. Union membership for worker cooperatives gives the enterprise a legitimate standard of operations.Bell, Dan "Worker-Owners and Unions --Why Can't We Just Get Along?" http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=11132

Firms converting to worker ownership may benefit from union membership because a union provides an experienced structure for integrating the needs of business with democratic influence from workers on management decisions.

Internal Structure Worker cooperatives may have a wide variety of internal structures. Many co-ops use a hierarchical structure similar to that of a conventional business, with a board of directors and various grades of manager, with the difference that the board of directors is elected. Some co-ops, however, use a structure based on activist collectives and civic organizations, with all members allowed and expected to play a managerial role - and sometimes using consensus decision-making. Such unconventional structures may be associated with more radical political aims such as anarchism and parecon.South End Press http://www.southendpress.org/aboutHaymarket Cafe http://haymarketcafe.org/

Worker cooperatives in Europe Worker co-operation is well established in most countries in Europe, with the largest movements being in Italy, Spain and France.

One of the world's best known example of worker cooperation is the Mondragón Cooperative Corporation in the Basque Country (autonomous community).Smith, Julia. BC Institute for Co-operative Studies "The Most Famous Worker Co-operative of All…Mondragon"

In the United Kingdom, the Labour Party's enthusiasm for worker cooperatives was at its highest in the 1970s and 1980s, with Tony Benn being a prominent advocate. A number of such co-operatives were formed during the 1974 Labour Government. However, this usually took place following the bankruptcy of a private firm in a desperate attempt to save the jobs at risk, and the change in ownership structure was usually unable to resist the underlying commercial failure. This was true in particular of the best known, the Meriden motor-cycle cooperative in the West Midlands which took over the assets of the ailing Triumph company, although there were instances of successful employee buy-outs of nationalised industries in the period, notably National Express.

The European Cooperative Statute, which has been in force since 2006, permits worker cooperatives to be created by individuals or corporate bodies in different EU countries. It is a loose framework which devolves much detail to the national legislation of the country in which the European Cooperative Society (ECS) is registered. It permits a minority of shares to be held by 'investor members' which are not employees.

In North America USA The United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives is the only organization in the U.S. representing worker cooperative interests nationally. There are local networks and federations throughout the U.S. in the San Francisco Bay area, Minnesota, Portland, Oregon, and Boston, Massachusetts, and the Pioneer Valley region of New England.Ajowa Nzinga Ifateyo "The United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives Has Issued a Call for Membership" http://www.geo.coop/USFedMembership.htm

Canada Worker co-ops in Canada are represented by the Canadian Worker Co-op Federation(CWCF). Members of the CWCF are found throughout English CanadaCanadian Worker Co-op Federation "Members" http://www.canadianworker.coop/english/4/index_e412.html. Quebec has a distinct worker co-operative history, and is presently organised into a number of regional federations.

South America Venuezuela See also List of Venezuelan Cooperatives.

The Hugo Chávez government in Venezuela has a policy of financing worker cooperatives, resulting in a growing number in that country. Michael Parenti, 'Good Things Happening in Venezuela', Z Magazine.http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Parenti/GoodThings_Venezuela.html

Argentina In response to the Argentine economic crisis (1999-2002), many Argentinian workers occupied the premises of bankrupt businesses and began to run them as worker-owned cooperatives. As of 2005, there were roughly 200 worker-owned businesses in Argentina, most of which were started in response to this crisis. Benjamin Dangl, 'Occupy, Resist, Produce: Worker Cooperatives in Argentina' http://upsidedownworld.org/coops_arg.htm The documentary film The Take is the best-known document in English about this phenomenon.

See also recovered factory.

India India owns the largest co-operative in the world which is also a more progressive worker co-operative. They are running Indian Coffee Houses in the country. The Coffee Houses in India were started by the Coffee Board in early 1940s, during British rule. In the mid 1950s the Board closed down the Coffee Houses, due to a policy change. The thrown-out workers then took over the branches, under the leadership of A. K. Gopalan and renamed the network as Indian Coffee House. This history is recorded in Coffee Housinte Katha, a book in Malayalam, the mother tounge of A. K. Gopalan. The author of the book is Nadakkal Parameswaran Pillai one of the leaders of the ICH movement.

See also

Employee-owned corporation
Industrial democracy
Workers' control
Workers' self-management
Workplace democracy

External links

Cicopa - International Cooperative Organization
US Federation of Worker Cooperatives
Network of Bay Area Worker Cooperatives - (Network of Bay Area Worker Cooperatives, pronounced "No Boss")
History of Work Cooperation in America
Beyond Capitalism: Leland Stanford's Forgotten Vision
David Ellerman: Papers on political economy arguing in favor of worker cooperatives
Worker cooperative forum
Collectives, Workers' Cooperatives, and the IWW
Worker Cooperatives Mapped on Platial.
Federation of Workplace Democracies-Minnesota
Worker Co-ops on the National Cooperative Business Association
Article on difference between worker cooperatives and unions in Dollars & Sense magazine
Valley Alliance of Worker Cooperatives

References

Highland Wholefoods Workers Cooperative
Welcome to Highland Wholefoods. We are a workers cooperative, based in Inverness. Since 1989 we have been supplying the Highlands and north-east Scotland with ...

Highland Wholefoods Workers Cooperative
How to find us . Highland Wholefoods Workers Cooperative Ltd., Unit 6, 13 Harbour Road, Inverness IV1 1SY

Disabled Workers Co-operative
Aims to create a national searchable database that will match the needs of individual customers wanting a product or service with a local disabled person who is able to provide ...

Disabled Workers Co-operative
The Disabled Workers Co-operative is a new project whose aim is to create a National searchable database that will match the needs of individual customers wanting a product or ...

Worker cooperative - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A worker cooperative is a cooperative owned and democratically controlled by its employees. There are no outside or consumer owners in a worker cooperative -- only the workers own ...

worker cooperative code of governance | Co-operative Business ...
Democracy or Bust: the Worker Co-operative Code of Governance by Bob Cannell Democratic control of enterprise is the final frontier in the economic struggle.

ORGANICLEA WORKERS COOPERATIVE
ORGANICLEA WORKERS COOPERATIVE. Secondary rules – Policy document. September 2004 . Organiclea is a workers cooperative. This is a deliberative form of business organisation ...

Socialist Worker (Britain) - an anticapitalist, revolutionary weekly
Weekly newspaper of the Socialist Workers Party (Britain).

worker cooperative - Hutchinson encyclopedia article about worker ...
worker cooperative. Business owned and controlled by its workers rather than outside shareholders. In some worker cooperatives each member worker has one vote at meetings, however ...