ILC 89 - Report V(1) Promotion of cooperatives

[Mark Levin <levin@ilo.org>]

I read with great interest Vic Thorpe’s comments (which recently came to
my attention) regarding the process of revising the ILO’s Recommendation
on cooperatives. I would like to add some additional information.

The process of adopting a new international labour standard on
cooperatives is a two year process. In June 2001 at the 89th Session of
the International Labour Conference in Geneva the (tripartite) Committee
on the Promotion of Cooperatives met for the first time and agreed a set
of Proposed Conclusions which were endorsed by the Conference Plenary.
In June 2002 a second discussion will be held with a view to adopting a
new Recommendation. The draft text contains many important articles
reflecting trade union concerns and priorities but perhaps of particular
interest to organized labour are the roles envisaged for workers’
organizations which appear in the draft text of the proposed
Recommendation already circulated to ILO Member States for their
comments. The following is the section of the text referring to workers’
organizations:

“Workers’ organizations should be encouraged to:

(a) advise and assist workers in cooperatives to join workers’
organizations;
(b) assist their members to establish cooperatives with the aim of
facilitating access to basic goods and services;
(c) participate in committees and working groups at the national and
local levels to consider economic and social issues having an impact on
cooperatives;
(d) participate in the setting up of new cooperatives with a view to the
creation or maintenance of employment, including in cases of proposed
closures of enterprises;
(e) participate in programmes for cooperatives aimed at improving
productivity and promoting equality of opportunity; and
(f) undertake any other activities for the promotion of cooperatives,
including education and training.”

This text is very much the product of the thinking of the Workers’ Group
at the Committee - at the Conference the employers’ and workers’ groups
traditionally do not interfere with each others right to define what
their respective roles should be. In the terms of reference of the COG
Organized Labour Group the question is raised “Is worker ownership a
threat or an opportunity to trade union organizing?”. Point (a) above
can be understood to refer to the role of trade unions in organizing
both employees and worker-owners of cooperatives. Point (d) indicates
that the Workers’ Group at the Conference saw workers’ ownership through
cooperatives as an opportunity to create and maintain employment. Taking
the text of the Proposed Conclusions as a whole there is little evidence
that the Workers’ Group regarded workers’ ownership through cooperatives
as a threat to organizing.

The full text of the Proposed Recommendation is available in hard copy
from the ILO under the title “Report IV(1) Promotion of cooperatives”.
The Report of the Committee is contained in Provisional Record No.18 of
the 89th Session of the Conference at:
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ilc89/pdf/pr-18.pdf
. The record of the discussion in plenary session is contained in
Provisional Record No.21 at:
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ilc89/pdf/pr-22.pdf

I hope that this information is helpful.

Mark Levin
ILO Cooperative Branch