Elena Purinam

Cooperative: Coop Aussametal
City: San Giorgio di Nogaro, Udine
Country: Italy
Sector: Manufacture of metal structures
Founded: 2009

It is therefore absolutely necessary to share the issues and problems faced by all members of the workforce with the personal and fierce conviction that, no matter how unpopular a particular action or decision may be, they are all taken in the common interest.

My name is Elena Purinan. I entered my working life at a fairly young age. I was involved in a series of activities before finding myself in a company that specialised in the manufacture of metal structures. Not only did this position enable me to apply my studies, it also allowed me to express my sense of initiative and my willingness to get things done and this, in turn, enabled me to gain experience outside my field of professional competence. After a few years there was a change in the company’s ownership, which led to a change in the way in which the work was carried out.

Ultimately, the company was not able to survive the widespread and generalised crisis and the downturn in the market meant that all of the workers were laid off. It was at this point that I called upon the experiences that I had begun almost through youthful ardour and which now, having matured over the course of the years, could become a new source of income for both me and my work colleagues.

Together with my some of my fellow workers we set up a cooperative (Coop Aussametal), of which I am now the President. But it is not easy to operate as a cooperative. The initial enthusiasm soon gives way to individualism and demands that can easily compromise the integrity of the company. It is therefore absolutely necessary to share the issues and problems faced by all members of the workforce with the personal and fierce conviction that, no matter how unpopular a particular action or decision may be, they are all taken in the common interest. We must always bear in mind the mandate we have received from the people whose interests we represent.

We have to earn the esteem of the right-minded persons because they will explain to the others that the way in which we operate is fair and correct. We must represent examples of integrity and self-denial and must be aware of the fact that our way of doing things will not always meet with everyone’s approval. However, when we find ourselves in the workshop at the end of a complex and tiring piece of work and we are able to look at each other and comment upon the successful conclusion of this work, then this is ample reward for our efforts and also encourages us to carry on in this way.

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What is a cooperative

Cooperatives a sustainable employment solution!

A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise.

Enterprises represented by CECOP are enterprises in which workers unite to satisfy their needs in terms of creation of sustainable jobs. They can be industrial enterprises or services rooted in the territories and having a long-term strategy. They are a genuine solution for sustainable jobs in Europe: they are broken down into workers’ cooperatives, social cooperatives and other types of enterprises owned by their workers.

Workers’ cooperatives: Workers’ cooperatives are enterprises subject to the same restrictions of competition, management and profitability as other companies. Their originality lies in the fact that their workers hold the majority of the shares, at least 51%. In doing so, the workers decide jointly on the major guidelines of their enterprises and appoint their leaders (managers, boards of directors, etc.). They also decide on how to share the profit with a twofold aim: to give the preference to the workers of the enterprises, in the form of refunds based on the work done and to consolidate the enterprises with a view to handing it over onto the future generations, i.e. creating reserves to reinforce the equity and ensuring thereby the sustainability of their enterprises. In all cooperatives, the internal democratic control is based on the principle of “one man, one vote” whatever the capital share held by the respective workers. Finally, the cooperative spirit promotes its employees information and training, a prerequisite to develop the autonomy, the motivation and responsibility, accountability required in an economic world which has become insecure. (Source: www.scop.coop)

Social cooperatives: Social cooperatives are specialised in the provision of social services or reintegration of disadvantaged and marginalised workers (disabled, long-term unemployed, former detainees, addicts, etc.). A large number of such cooperatives have been set up in Italy but also in other EU countries. Most of them are owned by their workers while offering the possibility or providing for the obligation (according to the national laws) to involve other types of members (users, voluntary workers, etc.).

Other types of enterprises owned by their workers: There are other types of enterprises owned by their workers such as for example the “Sociedades Laborales” in Spain which are real driving forces of economic and social activities which have contributed to lower the unemployment level and to revamp a sustained growth in Spain.