News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo [A chain of 300+ restaurants run democratically as workers cooperatives,
with a 50-year history, looks like a rather remarkable case of
worker-ownership-and-control.--DC]
http://tinyurl.com/2kauj6
Fifty piping hot years of Indian Coffee House
Web posted at: 3/9/2008 7:46:46
Source ::: IANS
kozhikode • If you sip a cup of hot coffee at the Indian Coffee House,
you contribute to the cause of the working class. The popular restaurant
chain, run by workers’ cooperatives, marks its golden jubilee this year.
There are about 70 Indian Coffee Houses in Kerala that dish out idli,
dosa, vada, biryani and of course coffee among other things. But since
the chain has branches all over India, the fare varies from region to
region.
You can be sure of tasty, clean and reasonably priced fare at the Indian
Coffee House. The Kerala branches function under two workers’ societies,
one based at Thrissur and the other in Kannur. ‘We serve 10,000
afternoon meals a day and 25,000 people visit our 17 outlets daily,’
I.V. Sivaraman, president of the Kannur-based Indian Coffee Board
Workers’ Cooperative Society, said.
The all-India branches are under their respective regional societies,
most of which are affiliated to the All India Coffee Workers’
Cooperative Societies’ Federation.
The societies in Kerala were set up in 1958 and are celebrating their
golden jubilee this year. It was a year earlier in 1957 that the coffee
houses came to be owned by workers. The Coffee Board, which was running
these restaurants, decided to close them and retrench the workers.
Witnessing the plight of workers, Communist Party of India-Marxist
(CPI-M) leader A K Gopalan, the first leader of the opposition in the
Indian parliament, organised them and founded the Indian Coffee Board
Workers’ Cooperative Society. The first society was set up in Bangalore
on Aug 19, 1957.
‘Now, there are 11 Indian Coffee Board Workers’ Societies in the country
and they have more than 300 restaurants. There are also three societies
which are not affiliated to the all-India federation,’ says Sivaraman,
who is also deputy chairman of the federation.
‘The society is truly a workers’ cooperative. The president is elected
from among the workers. Any worker can contest the polls. The society is
run by a board of directors, with workers as members,’ said V.
Sasidharan Nair, president of the Thrissur-based workers’ cooperative
society. ‘We have 52 restaurants across Kerala. Last year the turnover
was Rs.340 million. The society is a non-profit organisation. As a
workers’ venture the profit will go as benefits to them,’ he added.
The coffee houses vouch that their aim is to provide quality food at a
low cost.’You know how the price of provisions, especially rice, went up
here. We did not hike the prices proportionately,’ said Sivaraman. The
Kannur society clocked a Rs130m turnover last financial year. However,
the profit was only Rs115,000.
‘This shows that we are not for profiteering. As a workers’ cooperative,
we give all the benefits to our workers, just like in a government
service,’ says Sivaraman.
--
Dan Clore
My collected fiction: _The Unspeakable and Others_
http://tinyurl.com/3akhhr
Lord Weÿrdgliffe & Necronomicon Page:
http://tinyurl.com/292yz9
News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smygo
"From the point of view of the defense of our society,
there only exists one danger -- that workers succeed in
speaking to each other about their condition and their
aspirations _without intermediaries_."
--Censor (Gianfranco Sanguinetti), _The Real Report on
the Last Chance to Save Capitalism in Italy_
