UN declares 2012 "International Year of Cooperatives"
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and invests in communities."
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UN Gives Nod to Worker Co-Ops, as Cleveland Communities Embrace Model
Thursday
December 31
1:11 pm
By Akito Yoshikane
The year might be winding down, but United Nations member states are
already looking three years ahead: On Monday, the General Assembly
declared 2012 the International Year of Cooperatives.
Fifty-five countries from predominantly Latin, African and southeast
Asian countries supported the resolution in an effort to highlight the
contribution of cooperatives to socio-economic development.
To most Americans, the image of a worker co-ops conjures up notions of
a
hippie venture. But collective business models have been embraced all
over the world and have recently started gaining traction in U.S.
cities
like Cleveland, Ohio.
As autonomous voluntary associations, cooperatives are jointly owned
and
democratically controlled enterprises by a group of individuals with
common economic and social goals. Cooperatives have 800 million
members
across 100 countries and account for about 100 million jobs worldwide,
according to the UN.
Worker co-ops have not only been resilient through the economic
crisis,
they are also profitable. The top 300 cooperatives generate as much as
the 10th largest economy in the world with revenues of $1.1 trillion,
according to a 2008 report by the Geneva-based International
Co-operative Alliance.
Even here in the U.S., 900 rural electric cooperatives serve 37
million
people and own almost half of the electric distribution lines in the
country. But more recently, unions and businesses have also begun to
take a closer look at cooperative model in various sectors. Time is
reporting this week on how communities in Cleveland are experimenting
with the idea by taking inspiration from the successful Mondragon
Corp.,
the world's largest worker-owned co-op with roots in Spain's basque
region.
Several nonprofits, medical institutions and businesses in Cleveland
have looked to the Mondragon model to create services and jobs in
low-income areas—all while by democratizing ownership. One local
cooperative, Evergreen Cooperative group, distributes profits evenly,
every worker has one-vote, employment skill-sets are rotated, and wage
gaps between the CEO and workers are controlled.
Unions are also taking interest in cooperatives. In October, United
Steelworkers (USW) union announced an agreement to collaborate with
Mondragon in the manufacturing sector. USW International President Leo
Gerard in a press release called the agreement a “historic first step”
to create a viable business model through union co-ops in
manufacturing.
Too often we have seen Wall Street hollow out companies by
draining
their cash and assets and hollowing out communities by shedding jobs
and
shuttering plants. We need a new business model that invests in
workers
and invests in communities.
This decade has been marred with corporate scandals occurring within
the
traditional hierarchical business models. From employee pension-losses
at Enron, monstrous AIG executive bonuses, fraudulent accounting at
WorldCom to Wall Street’s complete financial collapse, the lack of
corporate governance has been scant and its effects on working people
have been catastrophic.
The democratic decision making and joint accountability at the center
of
co-ops is refreshing. Still, worker co-ops aren’t just ideals anymore.
For those in Cleveland and around the world, the decision to
participate
in worker co-ops are gaining headway out of necessity to create stable
jobs and feed their families, something the UN is hopeful it will be
able to do into the future.