Keys to the creation of cooperatives: the example of three practical guides

The transformation of companies into cooperatives is an option which is not always taken into account as part of corporate restructuring in crisis or in businesses without heirs. The global economic crisis has demonstrated the success of this entrepreneurial leap towards a more democratic and more sustainable employments. Examples of successful buyouts in crisis by their workers are numerous.

Several guidelines have been recently published for all those interested in joining the cooperative movement, especially in the UK, Spain and France. The Spanish Confederation of Worker Cooperatives (COCETA) and, in France, the General Confederation of Scop (CGScop) have published very practical guides, which describe the most important steps to take and which are aimed at future developers. Each confederation has given its national touch (legislation, financing, business environment, etc.), but both pursue the same objective: to publicize and promote the cooperative option.

The guide published by COCETA offers very practical information, including several tables that allow new cooperatives to establish a diagnosis in relation to the starting point found where the new entity should work more cooperatively and thoroughly to ensure its success. Both, CGSCOP as COCETA include a list of tools on which these companies can find support, such as entities or public and private institutions, which specialize in providing assistance in such situations. COCETA’s guide also includes a list of public grants and technical assistance from which entrepreneurs can benefit.

For its part, Co-operatives UK has recently launched a guide to promote the cooperative movement in the creative industries, namely to ensure that these professionals (who are often self-employed) work together. The document gives the necessary keys and indicates the way for the creation of a cooperative. Co-operatives UK also released in 2008 a generic guide for establishing cooperatives.

To access these guides you can refer to:

Spain
“De empresa en crisis a empresa cooperativa”: Guía para la transformación de empresas mercantiles en cooperativas de trabajo. COCETA

France
Guide “Transmission d’entreprise en Scop”. CGScop

United Kingdom
Creative cooperatives. A guide to starting a cooperative in the creative industries. Cooperatives UK

Guide “Starting a Co-operative”. Co-operatives UK

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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.