The ”Sociedades laborales” secure jobs in time

The jobs consolidation in the "Sociedades Laborales" (SAL) in Spain has been made reality thanks to the fact it is a worker-owned enterprise. "If four people join together to create a company and own it, then they will do their very best to survive in any economic environment," said Jose Luis Núñez, spokesperson for the Confederation of Employers and Industrial Societies Spain (Confesal). In addition, the Spanish SAL law restricts the hiring of temporary employees. So to stay as SAL they must meet a minimum number of permanently contracted working partners. "This ensures that industrial societies are creating stable employment", said Núñez.

The SAL governance model scheme is similar to a traditional company with the difference that the majority of the Board of Directors is composed of working members (at least two-thirds). The SAL sector is integrated in Spain for about 17.000 companies and 100.000 workers, according to data available from 2010. In addition, these companies recorded a turnover of 16.000 million Euros in the last fiscal year.

The Galician SAL “Nor Rubber” engaged in the manufacture of rubber products is a clear example. In 2001, following the collapse of GESRUBBER, Inc. the new company was created, "with a small portfolio of clients, with little funding but with a good product and a huge desire to move forward with this project from 133 workers who were looking to secure their jobs", says the company Board of Directors president, José Manuel Quintana.

After ten years of existence, they are clear about it, if they had not been a SAL, the adverse circumstances would have been solved in another way: "We should have gone to external financing, which could have led to a more complex situation. Surely we would have suffered more and the workforce would not be so involved in the management and progress of the company".

Zuray Andrea Melgarejo, a professor at the National University of Colombia and a PhD in Business Administration from the University of Navarra, performed the first comparative study between the SAL and the traditional companies in Navarra region (North of Spain). The study concluded that SAL are in a favourably competitive position compared to other commercial companies: "This business formula creates a job different from other small and medium enterprises characterized, among other factors, by a balance between sustainability, solidarity and adaptability to new markets, more likely to generate permanent employment and legal flexibility as well as flexibility for salaries" the study written by Professor Melgarejo concludes.

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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.