DOCSLIB.ORG

Worker Owned Cooperatives and the Ecosystems That Support Them

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Worker Owned Cooperatives and the Ecosystems That Support Them Worker Owned Cooperatives and the Ecosystems that Support Them By Rachael A. Tanner BA in Political Science University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan (2007) Submitted to the Department of Urban Studies and Planning in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in City Planning at the MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY June 2013 © 2013 Rachael A. Tanner. All Rights Reserved The author here by grants to MIT the permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of the thesis document in whole or in part in any medium now known or hereafter created. Author_________________________________________________________________ Department of Urban Studies and Planning (5/24/2013) Certified by _____________________________________________________________ Professor Xavier de Souza Briggs Department of Urban Studies and Planning Thesis Supervisor Accepted by______________________________________________________________ Associate Professor P. Christopher Zegras Chair, MCP Committee Department of Urban Studies and Planning 2 Worker Owned Cooperatives and the Ecosystems that Support Them By Rachael A. Tanner BA in Political Science University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan (2007) Submitted to the Department of Urban Studies and Planning in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in City Planning at the MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Abstract By emphasizing wealth creation, communities can not only cultivate streams of income, but also build wealth. Through collectively owned and democratically governed assets, communities can build wealth. Economic development policy and practice should emphasize wealth creation. Employee ownership, through worker cooperatives is one way to build wealth. But worker cooperatives are rare in the United States; this is because there is not a supportive cooperative ecosystem. The province of Québec, Canada has developed a robust cooperative ecosystem, leading the province to have the most cooperatives in Canada and a greater density of worker co-ops than the US. This thesis explores the Québec cooperative ecosystem through analysis of interviews with 22 leaders of over 19 organizations, including two worker cooperatives. This thesis seeks to understand (1) how the organizations and institutions in the ecosystem work together, (2) how they support cooperatives, and (3) how the lessons from Québec can inform the development of a cooperative ecosystem in New York City. This study reveals (1) the importance of historical, political, and cultural context in shaping the potential and possibilities for cooperative development; (2) that government support through policy, funding, and collaborative leadership is critical for the ecosystem’s development; (3) apex organizations are necessary to provide leadership and technical assistance among cooperatives; (4) interaction among cooperatives of all kinds leads to a stronger network; and (5) the size of the sector makes it easier to secure public support. Thesis Supervisor: Xavier de Souza Briggs Title: Associate Professor Reader: J. Phillip Thompson Title: Associate Professor 3 Acknowledgements Thank you Phil, Nick, Yorman, and CoLab for turning me on to democratic wealth generation and the new economy; you helped me realize that I’m not a foolish idealist. Thank you to everyone who agreed to be interviewed for this thesis. I am truly grateful that you took time to share your story, your wisdom, and to let me into your world. I learned more than I could have imagined, and much more than can be captured in this thesis. To my interviewees in Québec, your stories inspired me! To my New York contacts, I am hopeful about and encouraged by your work. Thank you to the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project, especially Josh, Dey, and Gabe, for taking a chance on a graduate student. I am so happy to know you, to say that I worked with you, and honored that I can contribute to your work. Thank you Public Service Center at MIT (especially Alison) as well as the Rodwin and Emerson Families and Committees; your support made this research project possible. Thank you Xav for steering me through this process, without you I literally would not have known how to begin. You tirelessly provided feedback, guidance, and kept me on track. I am truly indebted to you; hopefully I can pay you back or pay it forward. Thank you JoAnn for all the thesis prep deadlines, I don't care if people complain—they helped me! Thank you thesis group, Carri, Drew, Katherine, RJ, & Keith, for giving me a place to talk, complain, cheer up, and learn how to make a table of contents; this experience would not have been the same without you. Thank you Andrés, you might be the only person (other than my committee members) who read the whole entire thing; nothing says love like reading my thesis. Thank you to my parents, Carol and Elijah, my siblings, Jake, Elijah, and Cindy, and my entire family, who always encouraged me; telling me that I can do anything I put my mind to. I believed them, and it’s gotten me this far! Thank you to all the warriors for justice and love who have come before me, upon whose shoulders I stand, and in whose shadows I am immeasurably humbled. Thank you to those who will come after me. May this effort to build knowledge not be wasted. Thank you God, for my life, for my breath, and for possibilities. May this thesis be not only an achievement, but also an effort to sow love and light in the world. Shout out to Kalamazoo, Michigan, which not only really exists, but also is where I’m from. And thank you to my readers, my audience; I am so glad you decided to explore this topic. Read on! You won’t be disappointed. 4 Table of Contents Introduction ........................................................................................................ 8 Section I: Purpose.................................................................................................. 8 Section II: Research Questions & Methods ............................................................. 9 Case Selection ............................................................................................................................. 9 Data Collection & Analysis ...................................................................................................... 11 Section III: The Following Chapters ..................................................................... 12 Chapter 1: Cooperative Development as Economic Development ........................ 17 Section I: Wealth Creation Not Job Creation ........................................................ 17 Economic Development ........................................................................................................... 17 Wealth Creation through Employee Ownership .................................................................... 19 Section II: The Empirical and Historical Record of Worker Cooperatives .............. 20 Definition ................................................................................................................................. 20 Advantages and Disadvantages ............................................................................................... 21 History and Contemporary Terrain ........................................................................................ 24 Obstacles .................................................................................................................................. 27 Section III: Ecosystems ......................................................................................... 30 Chapter 2: Québécois Cooperatives in Contemporary and Historical Context ...... 32 Section I: Québec ................................................................................................. 32 Section II: Cooperatives in Québec ....................................................................... 33 Cooperatives ............................................................................................................................. 33 Worker-Owned Cooperatives .................................................................................................. 34 How Worker Cooperatives Start and Who Starts Them ........................................................ 36 Section III: A Historical Perspective .................................................................... 40 1900 – 1930: Dawn of the Cooperative Movement .............................................................. 40 1930 – 1945: Expansion ......................................................................................................... 42 1960 – 1980: Quiet Revolution .............................................................................................. 43 1980 – Present: Contemporary Cooperatives ........................................................................ 44 Section IV: Contemporary Perspectives on Cooperatives in Québec ...................... 49 Part V: Summary and Implications ...................................................................... 51 Chapter 3: The Québécois Cooperative Ecosystem .............................................. 54 Section I: The Big Picture .................................................................................... 54 Section II: Government ....................................................................................... 54 Federal Government ...............................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • World Co-Operative Monitor Explorative Report 2012
    EXPLORING THE CO-OPERATIVE ECONOMY EXPLORATIVE REPORT 2012 EXPLORING THE CO-OPERATIVE ECONOMY Download PDF THE 2012 WORLD CO-OPERATIVE MONITOR EXPLORING THE CO-OPERATIVE ECONOMY AN ICA WITH THE SCIENTIFIC IN OCCASION OF INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVE COLLABORATION OF EURICSE YEAR OF COOPERATIVES As the International Year of Co-operatives draws to a Thanks to the support of Crédit Coopératif, the Desjardins close, this is an opportune time to reflect on an exciting Group, the Indian Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), year full of opportunities and initiatives that celebrate Organisação das Cooperativas Brasileiras (OCB), and organisations, in which co-operative members, who own The Co-operative Group, ICA has now partnered with the and govern a business, collectively benefit. European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises (Euricse) to re-launch the Global300 in 2012 Scalability, value-based sustainability, and democracy as the World Co-operative Monitor. MADE POSSIBLE BY THE SUPPORT OF OUR SPONSORS are the three key messages utilised to promote a model of business that supports the social and economic Euricse, which since its founding has been committed development of economies, communities, and individuals to promoting knowledge about co-operative organisations, around the world. believes strongly in the need to monitor co-operatives and SistemaOCB to continue the work begun with the Global300. CNCOOP - OCB - SESCOOP Throughout this year, the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) has promoted and supported a large number The goal is to move beyond the largest 300 and beyond of initiatives. As the global voice of co-operatives, ICA the measure of annual turnover. To accomplish this, ICA will determined that the International Year of Co-operatives also be partnering with other co-operative lists, by country and presented the perfect opportunity to collect data on the sector, sharing data where possible and making it available largest co-operatives in the world.
    [Show full text]
  • The COVID-19 Outbreak Update from Legacoop, Italy
    The COVID-19 outbreak update from Legacoop, Italy https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/cooperatives/news/WCMS_7399... Advancing social justice, promoting decent work ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations The COVID-19 outbreak update from Legacoop, Italy This update provide insights on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Italian cooperative enterprises, and measures being taken by them to support workers, members/customers, and people in their communities affected by the crisis. News | 27 March 2020 "We are women and men cooperators who are present right alongside the doctors and nurses, keeping hospitals clean, operating in supermarkets, offices, warehouses, kitchens and thermal power plants. We are the ones working in social cooperatives to keep assistance alive for populations that were already vulnerable before the pandemic and are even more so after.” - Mauro Lusetti, President, Legacoop The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted life dramatically in Italy. On 25 March there were 74,386 confirmed cases with 7,503 deaths and 9,362 recoveries. The stringent measures adopted by the Italian Government, needed to slow down and contain the virus, have had seriously detrimental consequences for enterprises in the country. Regarding cooperative enterprises, if the emergency situation and the measures around the coronavirus pandemic continue for a longer period, it is expected that workers at risk could reach at least 265,000. This estimate is based on the number of workers and worker members in cooperatives in a number of key sectors, including: Social cooperatives pointed out that 200,000 workers could be at risk only in their sector, as they are precluded from carrying out activities of general interest, such as taking care of elderly and disabled people due to the closure of day centres, or interruption of home care, as well as 1 sur 4 17/04/2020 à 10:43 The COVID-19 outbreak update from Legacoop, Italy https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/cooperatives/news/WCMS_7399..
    [Show full text]
  • Cooperative Housing in the United States
    HOUSING COOPERATIVES UNITED STATES 1949-1950 Joint publication of Division of Housing Research Housing HOUSING AND HOME FINANCE AGENCY Research Bureau of Labor Statistics UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR WASHINGTON 1951 Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Cooperative Housing in the United States 1949 and 1950 Housing Research Paper No. 24 Bulletin No. 1093 HOUSING AND HOME FINANCE AGENCY UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Office of the Administrator Bureau of Labor Statistics Housing Research Division For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U . S. Government Printing: Office, Washington 25, D. C. Price 65 cents (paper) Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Digitized for FRASER http://fraser.stlouisfed.org/ Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis P r e f a c e After the end of World W ar II the severe housing shortage in this country led to an increased interest in cooperative housing as one means of solving the problem. This gave further impetus to a movement which began in the United States about a third of a century ago among people who held that by joining together in the purchase of land and the construction of houses they could obtain dwellings of good quality at less cost than those being provided in other ways. As things have worked out, some housing cooperatives have been outstandingly successful and have accomplished everything their sponsors hoped for. Others, however, have proved to be disap­ pointing, either falling by the wayside or failing to attain the original objectives.
    [Show full text]
  • Cooperatives in Industrial and Service Sectors in the Asia-Pacific Region
    Cooperatives in industrial and service sectors in the Asia-Pacific region Models, work and employment, ecosystem and public policies International Cooperative Alliance Asia and Pacific & 9, Aradhana Enclave +91-11-26888067 ica-asia and pacific Sector-13, R. K. Puram International Organisation of the Industrial and Service Cooperatives New Delhi-110066 +91-11-26888250 icaapac [email protected] icaasiapacific ica-ap.coop Cooperatives in industrial and service sectors in the Asia-Pacific region Table of contents List of tables iv List of figures ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ iv Abbreviations and acronyms ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� v Synthesis note 1 Introduction���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������1 2 The scope of target types of the present study ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 1 3 Method����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 2 ‘Type’ and ‘model’�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
    [Show full text]
  • Bibliography of Cooperatives and Cooperative Development
    Bibliography of Cooperatives and Cooperative Development Compiled by the following Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs personnel: Original, 1999 Christopher D. Merrett, PhD, IIRA director and professor Norman Walzer, PhD, professor of Economics and IIRA director emeritus Update, 2007 Cynthia Struthers, PhD, associate professor, Housing/Rural Sociology Program Erin Orwig, MBA, faculty assistant, Value-Added Rural Development/Cooperative Development Roger Brown, MBA, manager, Value-Added Rural Development/Cooperative Development Mathew Zullo, graduate assistant Ryan Light, graduate assistant Jeffrey Nemeth, graduate assistant S. Robert Wood, graduate assistant Update, 2012 Kara Garten, graduate assistant John Ceglarek, graduate assistant Tristan Honn, research assistant Published by Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs Stipes Hall 518 Western Illinois University 1 University Circle Macomb, IL 61455-1390 [email protected] www.IIRA.org This publication is available from IIRA in print and on the IIRA website. Quoting from these materials for noncommercial purposes is permitted provided proper credit is given. First Printing: September 1999 Second Printing: September 2007 Third Printing: June 2012 Printed on recycled paper Table of Contents I. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................1 II. Theory and History of Cooperatives ....................................................................................................3 III. Governance,
    [Show full text]
  • Cooperative Farming Greenhorns Guidebook
    Cooperative Farming Frameworks for Farming Together a greenhorns guidebook by Faith Gilbert Contributing Authors: Kathy Ruhf, Land for Good • Lynda Brushett, Cooperative Development Institute This guidebook was funded by a Northeast SArE Sustainable Community innovations grant. Additional thanks to: Severine vT Fleming, the Greenhorns Jon Jaffe, Farm Credit East Jerry Cosgrove, New World Foundation Local Economies Project Joe Rhinehart, Democracy at Work Network Betsy Black, Cooperative Fund of New England Steve Hadcock, Cornell Cooperative Extension And to our featured farms and organizations: Corbin Hill Food Project Diggers’ Mirth Collective Farm, VT Little City Growers, RI Intervale Center, VT Island Grown Apprentice Program NOFA Massachusetts Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, VA Sleeping Frog Farm, AZ Tourne-Sol Co-operative Farm, QC Tweefontein Herb Farm, NY Winter Green Farm, OR And to the many individuals who shared their cooperative farming experiences with us. Illustrations by Brooke Budner • Design by Kimberly Boustead contents INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 4 Author’s Note ......................................................................................................4 What is a cooperative? What is cooperative farming? .....................................5 The Cooperative Farming Landscape...............................................................6 CHAPTER 1: Sharing Resources and Services .............7 Marketing & Distribution ...................................................................................8
    [Show full text]
  • The Role of Workers in Management
    Review of Radical Political Economics 43(3) 328 –333 The Role of Workers © 2011 Union for Radical Political Economics Reprints and permission: http://www. in Management: The sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0486613411407715 Case of Mondragón http://rrpe.sagepub.com Al Campbell1 Abstract Independent of whatever other advantages it might have for the workers, worker ownership has repeatedly demonstrated in the real world that it is no guarantee for worker participation in management. The participation of workers in management as a first step toward worker self-management requires institutions and practices that will both allow such participation and promote it. This paper considers, in the frame of four standard issues in worker self- management, six specific institutions and practices common to the collection of co-ops that constitute the Mondragón complex that have generated meaningful worker participation in management in this large corporation. JEL classification: J54, L29, M19 Keywords economic democracy, workers’ participation in management, Mondragón, cooperatives This is not a paper about the rich multi-dimensional subject of the economics of the Mondragón complex of worker cooperatives. This is a case study of worker participation in management and self-management at Mondragón, at the present time. Specifically, this article will briefly exam- ine six institutional structures and practices at Mondragón that both allow and promote worker participation in management. 1. Structures1 and Practices for Supporting and Promoting Participation in Management Before examining these six institutions and practices, four issues will be briefly indicated that should be kept in mind. The first issue is the necessary interaction between direct and representative institutions and practices for participation in management.
    [Show full text]
  • Group Housing Cooperatives
    C O O P ! S E R V A T I O N S Group Housing Cooperatives: !e Expanding Alternative to Meet New Needs in a Changing Society By Jim Jones In recent years, the cost of housing has instantly bring a new member into a ready-made increased much more rapidly than average salaries. social group. While housing has always been problem for low Because young people seldom plan to stay in jobs income wage earners (including students who don’t for more than a few years, equity accumulation in have wealthy parents), it is becoming an increasing housing is rarely a concern. Renting is the realistic problem for young professionals. For many with alternative, and the control that comes through college degrees, entry level salaries just don’t go group ownership is seen as a value to those who Ideas and opinions as far as they used to – particularly after making have spent years suffering under landlords or in on cooperative student loan payments. university residence halls. housing Many in this group are single, unsure of what Even though the privacy of a room is important, they want to do and where they want to do it, highly the space of an entire apartment is generally not mobile, and in many ways lifestyles are still similar as important. Young, single people have fewer to those of students. Graduation from college can possessions and less need for space than those with also mean the stress of a new job in a new city far spouses, children and years of accumulated “stuff.” from friends and familiar surroundings.
    [Show full text]
  • How to Set up a Workers' Co-Op
    How to set up a Workers’ Co-op Fourth edition - Summer 2015 www.RadicalRoutes.org.uk How to set up a Workers’ Co-op First edition written by Catalyst Collective Ltd in 1994 and updated by Radical Routes Ltd in 2003. Third edition written by Footprint Workers' Co-operative Ltd and Seeds for Change Lancaster Co-operative Ltd in 2012. This fourth edition written by Footprint Workers’ Co-ooperative Ltd and Seeds for Change Lancaster Co-ooperative Ltd. in 2015 Published by Radical Routes Ltd. 16 Sholebroke Avenue, Chapeltown, Leeds, LS7 3HB www.radicalroutes.org.uk This work is anti-copyright. Feel free to copy, adapt and distribute it as long as the final work remains anti-copyright. (Credit to the authors / publishers would be appreciated) Design by Shtiggy shtiggy.wordpress.com Download a PDF of this booklet for free from: Illustrations by Carrie MacKinnon unless otherwise stated www.seedsforchange.org.uk Typeset in Open Sans or www.radicalroutes.org.uk (an open-source font) Printed by Footprint Workers Co-ooperative Ltd, 16 Sholebroke Avenue, Chapeltown, Leeds LS7 3HB Tel: 0113 262 4408 www.footprinters.co.uk Printed on 100% post-consumer waste paper ISBN 978-1-899212-04-0 Acknowledgements 2 How to set up a Workers’ Co-op There are also other types of co- 1. Introduction operatives covering other aspects of life. Housing co-operatives provide Taking control of our own lives is an secure, affordable housing; consumer important step in the fight against the co-operatives help people buy stuff or massive injustices and ecological services in bulk; and social centres devastation facing the world.
    [Show full text]
  • Cooperative Housing Bulletin
    COOPERATIVE HOUSING BULLETIN A member service of the National Association of Housing Cooperatives August/September 2008 National Affordable Housing Initiative Launched ROC USA Rolls Out Resident Ownership in owned communities. Join Us for Manufactured-Home Communities in 29 States In New NAHC’s Annual CFED, Fannie Mae, Ford Foundation, NCB Capital Hampshire, the Loan Fund has helped Conference > Impact, New Hampshire Community Loan Fund Invest $7 Million in new organization homeowners in Houston, TX 84 communities Concord, NH – The New Hampshire Community Sept. 17–20, 2008 Loan Fund (the Loan Fund), the Corporation for establish their own Enterprise Development (CFED) corporations to inside and NCB Capital Impact launched purchase and manage a new organization, ROC USA in the community. May of 2008. Beyond New Hampshire, Jerry Voorhis hundreds of cooperatives made Legacy ROC USA aims to help the 3.5 million American families living in up of owners of mobile and 3 manufactured-home communities manufactured homes have bought acquire the communities in which communities — in California, they live. ROC USA’s mission is to Florida and states in between. Members News make resident ownership a viable However, there has never been a 5 choice for homeowners in the U.S. standardized model or a coordinated strategy, so Those are the headlines. Now, how is ROC USA successes have been localized and dispersed. ROC USA aims to move resident ownership to scale. “We FCH-Assisted Co-ops LLC planning to fulfill its mission? By following achieve scale when every homeowner in every U.S. in Puerto Rico what the Loan Fund has been doing since 1984 in New Hampshire — help “homeowners” in “parks” community is presented with a viable choice as to 7 buy their communities, when they become available.
    [Show full text]
  • For All the People
    Praise for For All the People John Curl has been around the block when it comes to knowing work- ers’ cooperatives. He has been a worker owner. He has argued theory and practice, inside the firms where his labor counts for something more than token control and within the determined, but still small uni- verse where labor rents capital, using it as it sees fit and profitable. So his book, For All the People: The Hidden History of Cooperation, Cooperative Movements, and Communalism in America, reached expectant hands, and an open mind when it arrived in Asheville, NC. Am I disappointed? No, not in the least. Curl blends the three strands of his historical narrative with aplomb, he has, after all, been researching, writing, revising, and editing the text for a spell. Further, I am certain he has been responding to editors and publishers asking this or that. He may have tired, but he did not give up, much inspired, I am certain, by the determination of the women and men he brings to life. Each of his subtitles could have been a book, and has been written about by authors with as many points of ideological view as their titles. Curl sticks pretty close to the narrative line written by worker own- ers, no matter if they came to work every day with a socialist, laborist, anti-Marxist grudge or not. Often in the past, as with today’s worker owners, their firm fails, a dream to manage capital kaput. Yet today, as yesterday, the democratic ideals of hundreds of worker owners support vibrantly profitable businesses.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cord Weekly (November 1, 1995)
    PHARMACY • Prescriptions Ask about the • Over-the-Counter Products es for our "f\November the cord • All drug plans honoured contest! On Campus: 3rd floor in the SUB 884-3101 • Johanne Fortier B.PH,L.PH. Canada still a country Parizeau under heatfor "ethnic" comment KATHY CAWSEY and Canada that the "next time could come Cord News more quickly than we believe." Alberta Few Canadians have experienced a night as Premier Ralph Kline said that changes would tense as this past Monday. have to be made in Canada. He called for The Quebec Referendum resulted in one of decentralization and greater autonomy for the the closest political races in history. At the end provinces. of the evening, Federalism squeaked by with In the end, however, Quebec Premier only a 1 percent victory over the Separatists. Jacques Parizeau upstaged all the other actors Television viewers across Canada watched of the evening. In an exuberant speech to 'Yes' anxiously as the blue and red bar at the bot- supporters, Parizeau pointed out that 60 per- tom of the screen wavered back and forth cent of francophones voted 'yes'. He then went across the 50 percent mark all night. on to predict that "we will have our own coun- With a final result of 50.6 percent to 49.4 try," and, in a speech that scandalized many percent, the Federalists didn't feel very victori- observers, blamed the loss on non-francopho- ous about their win. Prime Minister Jean nes and especially "ethnic" Quebecers. Chretien concluded the evening with a call for "It is true that we have been defeated, but change.
    [Show full text]