Re: Mondragon: Fwd: New ILO Recommendation on the Promotion of Cooperatives

[Hsq95@aol.com]

In a message dated 7/14/2002 10:34:47 PM Eastern Daylight Time, race@netspace.net.au writes:


> Dear Chris
>
>
> It was great news, in your message to Mark Levin, that your SweatX project is flourishing, and also that there are plans for replicating it in Mexico or Central America. Are you yet able to share any preliminary observations about the level of participation that is being achieved at the shopfloor level, and ways in which it can be maintained and enhanced once the formative phase is over? And - remote as the issue may seem at this stage - have you developed any views about the optimum size of businesses that are derived in some sense from the Mondragon model, particularly in the light of Arizmendiarrieta's conclusion following the 1974 Ulgor strike, that at the point where the membership of a co-operative reached around 300 it should spin off a daughter co-operative? Is it possible in this respect that aspects of what you are undertaking could be instructive for Mondragon in its currently re-energised pursuit of shopfloor inclusion, participation and democratisation? Might not there be an opportunity here to establish a precedent for a mutually advantageous exchange of information with Mondragon, through, say, a regular swapping of notes with entities such as the Saiolan business incubator or the LKS management consultancy co-operatives, or perhaps less ambitiously with individuals within them?  In short, how can a genuine dialogue with Mondragon be substituted for what at present is more in the nature of serial monologues - how can channels be established for giving back to Mondragon at least some fraction of what is gained from its example? Many thanks, and all good wishes, Race Mathews 
> -- 
>
>
>
> Dr Race Mathews,
> Senior Research Fellow,


Race -

It is too early to represent Sweat X as a model of shopfloor democratization though that is certainly one of our ambitions.  We are helped in achieving that goal through the inclusion in our collective bargaining contract with UNITE! the apparel union of a clause that established a Joint Labor-Management Committee.  I will include the language of that clause that I drafted during negotiations this past spring.

ARTICLE 33
TEAM X - UNITE LABOR MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

The parties agree to establish a permanent Team X-UNITE Labor Management Committee.  This committee shall have as its general purpose the promotion of labor management cooperation at Team X and the development of policies and practices through which bargaining unit and non-bargaining unit employees will participate in the ownership of the enterprise.

Specific goals of the Team X-UNITE Labor Management Committee will include:

1.  The ongoing, constructive evaluation of company policies, including work practices and the organization of work, which will maximize efficiency, profitability and worker satisfaction at Team X.
2.  The formulation of options through which UNITE, its representatives or members may serve on the Team X Board of Directors. 
3.  The formulation of specific policy recommendations directed to the Team X  Board of Directors concerning Cooperative Membership policies and practices of Team X.
4.  The design of education and training programs that will strengthen the skills and understanding of bargaining unit and non-bargaining unit members alike concerning the development of a positive ownership culture at Team X.

The Team X-UNITE Labor Management Committee shall not conflict with the Management Rights clause as defined in Section 14 of this Agreement.

The committee is functioning well and has been a real help to our efforts so far.  It meets every 4-6 weeks.

There is talk of connecting Team X with the Mondragon Saiolan business incubator though nothing formal yet.  My partner Fred Freundlich recently presented about Team X to the students at Mondragon University who were quite excited about the idea of some future collaboration.  Fred and his colleagues are exploring that further.

Two other Mondragon related issues of note - at the initiation of Fred Freundlich, in the early spring my colleagues Jeff Gates and David Ellerman traveled to Mondragon to help the Basque government consider how or whether to include ESOP-like tax law in the menu of options available to businesses in that part of the world.  

Later in the spring, with some help from me, Stan Gacek of the International Affairs Division of the AFL-CIO traveled to Mondragon and spent a day and a half with Fred and his colleagues.  My contact with Stan (copied here) grew out of a request from a local colleague concerning the introduction of Mondragon like ideas in Argentina.  Yet another colleague, Dan Swinney, had also encouraged the same kind of exchange this past spring in Brazil and one other location in Latin America.


Regards,

Chris

 am forwarding a communication that we received today from Mark Levin at 
>the ILO.  The message contains links to the text of the new ILO 
>Recommendation on the Promotion of Cooperatives that was adopted at the 
>90th Session of the Intermational Labour Conference in June 2002.  There 
>are also links to other information and documents related to the 
>discussion that culminated in the new Recommendation.  These links may 
>also be found the COG Library.
>
>The Recommendation replaces ILO Recommendation 127, adopted in 1966 and 
>limited to developing countries.  The new Recommendation asks members to 
>adopt measures to promote cooperatives in all countries to create 
>employment, develop business potential, increase savings and investment 
>and improve social well-being.  Member countries are asked to consider the 
>promotion of cooperatives as an objective of national and social development.
>
>For your information, the text of the old Recommendation can be found at 
>http://ilolex.ilo.ch:1567/cgi-lex/convde.pl?query=R127&query1=127.
>
>Steve Clem
>
>
>>X-Mailer: Novell GroupWise Internet Agent 5.5.6.1
>>Date: Fri, 12 Jul 2002 09:37:02 +0200
>>From: "Mark Levin" <levin@ilo.org>
>>To: <jlogue@kent.edu>
>>Cc: <dgo@esoplaw.com>,
>>      "Jürgen Schwettmann" <schwettmann@ilo.org>
>>Subject: New ILO Recommendation on the Promotion of Cooperatives
>>
>>Dear John,
>>
>>I was thinking that it might be useful to provide a link on the COG 
>>website to the text of the new ILO Recommendation on the Promotion of 
>>Cooperatives adopted at the 90th Session of the International Labour 
>>Conference in June 2002. As you may be aware, this is the only 
>>international labour standard on cooperatives. The link is: 
>>http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ilc90/pdf/pr-23a.pdf .
>>
>>Information about the Record Vote on the Recommendation may also be of 
>>interest and can be found at: 
>>http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ilc90/pdf/pr-23vote.pdf .
>>
>>There are other related documents, including the Report of the Committee 
>>to be found at: 
>>http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ilc90/pdf/pr-23.pdf 
>>and the Report of the discussion in the Conference Plenary at: 
>>http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ilc90/com-cood.htm . 
>>These documents are available on-line in French and Spanish too.
>>
>>I will be happy to provide any further information if requested.
>>
>>Best regards.


Mark Levin
ILO

Dear Mark:

Congratulations to you and your colleagues for getting this important motion on cooperatives passed at the ILO.  I know your name from my colleague David Ellerman at the World Bank.

You may have heard of a recent unionized cooperative model that may be of interest to your ILO colleagues.  Team X, Inc. is a UNITE! organized worker cooperative that produces Sweat X brand apparel out of a new factory in Los Angeles.  Team X was launched in early 2002 and is successfully operating in the marketplace.

The Team X effort - described on the web at www.sweatx.coop - has been funded by a new social venture capital fund run by Ben Cohen and Pierre Ferrari.  Ben Cohen is the former owner of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream here in the United States.  The social venture capital fund Ben, Pierre and others have started aims to pay a "living wage" at all its target investment firms and is partial to Mondragon-inspired industrial cooperatives.  I am glad to report that unions are also a welcome part of the Hot Fudge/Team X / Sweat X model and that UNITE! has been an enthusiastic partner in this effort to build a model firm that can prove that the apparel industry need not operate under sweatshop conditions.  

My firm (Ownership Associates, Inc. www.ownershipassociates.com) with early help from David Ellerman, Jeff Gates and the law firm of Dorsey & Whitney has played the lead role in helping to structure and organize Team X.  We play a continuing role helping with internal organizational and educational challenges, with external public relations efforts and in helping to place Sweat X brand apparel in universities, with unions, faith based organizations and with the entertainment industry.  

The labor connection is crucial here.  In addition to my work at Ownership Associates, I serve as a member of the core faculty of the Harvard Trade Union Program teaching on the general topic of Capital Strategies for Labor.  Richard Freeman is the faculty co-chair of the Harvard Trade Union Program.  He and colleagues at UCLA are producing case study material on Team X Sweat X that should prove useful to the broader labor community.

Finally, on an international note, one of the mid term plans for the Hot Fudge Team X Sweat X group is to replicate our effort in Mexico or Central America.  Please let me know if you would like any further information on this project.  You can write me here or preferably at cm@ownershipassociates.com

Regards,

Chris

Christopher Mackin
Ownership Associates, Inc. (a worker cooperative)
6 University Road
Cambridge, MA 02138
T. 617-868-4600
F. 617-868-7969
www.ownershipassociates.com