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This article is from WeChat public account: Guanshitong Corporation (ID: foodthinkchina) , author: Eva Chen, from FIG title: visual China

Shitong News said:

In January 2016, Chen Yihua and Chen Yuling, who followed and participated in the China-Taiwan cooperative movement, went to the United Kingdom to explore how the cooperative cause has developed in its birthplace. They interviewed 29 cooperatives and related institutions. In this article, Chen Yihua has selected three cases, namely labor cooperatives, community cooperatives, and consumer cooperatives. I hope that through the cases of these three cooperative forms, I will show a variety of looks of the cooperative economy, for those who are interested in the cause of cooperation reference.

This article is based on the editing of Yi Hua’s lecture on the “Cooperative Economy” course of Shitong News Agency. For more course content, please see the end of the article.

1. Labor Cooperative: Unicorn Grocery Shop

〇The facade of the unicorn store

• Labor cooperatives

  Co-owned by workers who work here. It can be said that there is no “boss” or “everyone is a boss” here.
  

  Unicorn (Unicorn) is a shop that only sells vegan products. It was founded in 1996 and is located in Manchester, UK About 30 minutes by car.

  For more than two decades, unicorns have maintained good operations. More than 6,000 people come to spend a week. Almost all vegan consumers in Manchester City come here to purchase. Although it is a vegan store, the range of unicorns is very rich. For them, the profitability of cooperatives is very important, and good management is the prerequisite for the normal operation of cooperatives and the welfare guarantee of members. Therefore, it is necessary to enrich the categories to meet the diversified needs of consumers, which is also conducive to cooperative management.

  At the time of our interview, Unicorn had 69 employees and 6 part-time employees. The hourly salary of unicorn members is on average in the UK, and the total monthly salary is also higher than the average. Although part-time employees do not have membership status, they are also an important support for cooperatives. More than half of the employees started as part-time employees, gradually learned about unicorns, and eventually became full members.

  〇 At a glance, a unicorn store looks just like a regular supermarket.

  The development of unicorns has not been smooth, and they have encountered some difficulties. 2003Due to the landlord’s sudden decision to sell the house, the unicorn almost ended its business. At that time, there were only 30 members of the unicorn. If members were required to pay for the crisis, the economic pressure on everyone would be too great. Like many cooperatives I interviewed, they are also reluctant to deal with banks, because banks are likely to use the interest of lenders to make investments that they do not want to support. In the end, the unicorn decided to borrow from the residents of the community, which also strengthened the connection with the community.

  The members set three plans to communicate with community residents: zero interest rate, the same interest rate as bank deposits (3%) and high (5%) for banks. In the end, more than 300 community residents lent money to cooperatives, all of whom chose zero interest rates. With this money, the unicorn bought from the landlord the store they had just rented, obtained the right to use it permanently, and paid off all of the money in only five years. It is worth mentioning that some community residents are reluctant to even take the money back because they are worried that the cooperative will not open.

  After paying off the loan, the unicorn planned another thing. Because there is very little local vegetable supply in the UK in winter, they hope to buy a nearby farmland to plant nearby to increase the variety of local vegetable supplies, reduce food mileage and transportation costs. So the residents of these communities once again chose to borrow money from unicorns to help them complete the plan. Therefore, the unicorn cooperative not only owns the property right of the shop, but also a shop with its own planting base.

  〇 Unicorn proudly announces at the store that all our fruits and vegetables are organic.

  How does a unicorn as a retail store interact with producers? They think that it ’s precisely because a farmer provides good food that a store like a unicorn can survive, so the producer treats himThey are very important. Therefore, although UK regulations do not mandate that cooperatives must establish a public welfare fund, unicorns voluntarily draw a portion of the balance from the turnover as a public welfare fund. In addition to helping the disaster-stricken farmers survive the crisis, as a cooperative that has been in business for more than 20 years, they are also very willing to provide some help to young cooperatives, so this public welfare fund will also be used for exchanges between cooperatives. The first week of May each year is the co-operative weekend set by the British Labor Cooperatives. During this period, some local labor cooperatives come together to discuss the difficulties encountered and how to actively deal with many problems together.

  The unicorn’s welfare fund also includes support for foreign producers. For example, their tea comes from Nepal, and they have set up a special fund for women-only ecological toilets. This actually responds to Article 7 of the Seven Principles of Cooperatives-Caring for the Community.

  〇 “Bakery Cooperative”, one of the suppliers of the unicorn store.

  The procurement principle of unicorns is “cooperatives first”, that is, giving priority to the products of other enterprises that have also been established in accordance with the principles of cooperatives. More than 50% of their partners are also cooperatives. Even those co-op products are slightly more expensive, unicorns don’t mind. Because for them, choosing to cooperate with cooperatives is also a recognition and support for each other. This also responds to Article 6 of the Seven Principles of Cooperatives: Inter-Community Cooperation.

  Different from ordinary companies or organizations, when I interviewed in cooperatives and asked their titles, almost all the responses I got were simple “members”. Everyone is a member unless he is elected as the current chairman. They generally say that they are members of a cooperative and are responsible for which aspect of the cooperative. So there are no bosses or supervisors in the cooperatives. Everyone cooperates to run the cooperatives.

  This flat working state sounds very good, but will it be efficient? Take a meeting as an exampleSomeone decides a thing together. No one is in charge. Will the meeting become a long tug-of-war? Unicorns, as labor cooperatives, have 69 members holding regular meetings once a week, each meeting lasting about two or three hours. And there is a wholesale cooperative called SUMA near the unicorn, which is also a supplier of unicorns. There are a total of 120 members. For them to let every member know everything about the cooperative, things will become easier.

  〇The packaging room of the unicorn store, because they can be purchased in bulk or sold in bulk, they can also have more profit margins.

  Britta interviewed us for four tasks at Unicorn. Her main job is in the administrative office, which spends two days a week; because the most important job in the store is cashiering, each member must arrange a certain number of working hours at the cashier post each week; the third piece is the picking work related to the product ; The fourth part is cleaning. Each member will rotate in different positions like her, because each person’s perspective is different, and everyone considers different issues in different positions. Rotation can reduce misunderstandings and enhance empathy.

  “For example, the price of vegetables will rise after the flood, or there will be a lack of supply. If I have been to the product department, I will know the true situation of the matter, and I can explain what happened to the customer when I arrive at the cashier post. The experience of the post makes it easy for me to complain about the product department. Everyone goes to the meeting in this state, knowing everyone’s work and everything that happens in the cooperative. Everything in the cooperative is flat. No one arranges who will go. Where to work. “So they felt that if there was always a need to be shouted to do something, it would usually not be here.

  So how do you join a cooperative?

  It sounds like you have to fully understand every aspect of the cooperative to stay in it. In fact, they will have one of the most important points when they openly recruit.Job requirements, such as the main responsibility of the cash register post is the cash register. In the unicorn store, their trial period is seven months. This is called a trial period in general enterprises, and they prefer to call it an adaptation period in a cooperative.

  In the adaptation period, newcomers go to understand what a cooperative is like and how it works here. It’s usually six months for them to understand each other’s work and it will be easier to stay and work. The staff in your position will assess whether you are suitable to become a member, and you also need to judge whether you are suitable to work here. In addition, honesty is also recognized as an important quality to become a member.

  It sounds that these cooperatives are working very well. Every staff member, whether it is 69 or 120, works well and handles everything equally, but how does it work?

  In the unicorn, they only choose two people, the chairman and the co-chairs. The matter is decided by all members. They are not authorized to the council, so the chairman has no ruling. Those who like to speak and can speak for a long time by picking up the microphone are not suitable for their chair. The chairman of the unicorn cooperative is mainly responsible for two aspects of work: time control during meetings, and social and public speaking on behalf of the cooperative.

  The foundation of a cooperative is that all members have the right to decide, that is, all the participants in it. If you choose a labor cooperative, then all the workers decide on the cooperative.

  The unicorn has also experienced a controversial vote. A member proposed a motion: You can enjoy one month’s paid and paid vacation after working for five years and ten years. Some senior members oppose that the personnel costs are too high. After full discussion, there were still two members who opposed the vote on the second vote, which ended in failure.

  〇 The unicorn store shows their promiseFive Goals Principles.

  There are five things posted on the wall of the Unicorn Store that they think are important and they want to promote. They are also grateful to consumers who come here to buy and pay attention to and support them to complete these five things. Because coming here to spend is to help them make these things better and more stable.

  These five are:

  1. Stable and safe employment environment to ensure that everyone has a job;

  2. Everyone is equal and has a fair opportunity;

  3. Provide a healthy and comprehensive consumption environment;

  4. Support fair and sustainable trade without oppressing producers;

  5. Unity and symbiosis among cooperatives.
  

  2. Community Cooperative: Clevedon Bookstore Community Cooperative

  〇The picture says: The residents of the community have kept the second-hand bookstore that almost closed.

  • Community cooperatives

    Cooperatives jointly owned by community members.
    

    Clevedon, a seaside town in southwest England, has a bookstore operated as a community cooperative. The bookstore itself is young, but the community cooperatives were founded in 2011. What is going on?

    A few years ago, a man namedAngela’s women emigrated to Scotland from Clevedon. She used to run a second-hand bookstore herself, so when she moved in, she found a local second-hand bookstore, saying that she had extensive experience and would be happy to provide volunteer services if needed. One day six months later, Angela suddenly received a call from the bookstore owner. It turned out that he was going to close the business and asked Angela if he was interested in taking over.

    Angela, like many British people, believes that books should not be expensive luxury items. (New British books are very expensive) There should be no class distinction, so she feels that this second-hand bookstore is very important to the small town of Clevedon and should be retained anyway. But she also does not want to completely re-enter the old industry, relying on her own strength to set up the bookstore to operate independently. Having lived in Clevedon for six months, she already has two local mail groups. So, she sent an email to these people, telling everyone: If you think this matter is important, or think that the bookstore should be left, everyone can meet in one place to discuss how to deal with this matter.

    〇 Angela, who had independently operated a second-hand bookstore, became a backbone member of this community cooperative bookstore.

    A week after the email was sent, twelve residents of the community who wished to keep the second-hand bookstore came to the agreed place. After the discussion, everyone reached a consensus: to keep the second-hand bookstore in the form of a cooperative. With the help of Cooperatives UK, which specializes in helping newcomers set up cooperatives, they set up a Clevedon community bookstore cooperative with ten pounds that most people can afford as share capital.

    Clevedon community bookstore is very different from other cooperatives in that there is no full-time staff. All members participate in the bookstore operation free of charge on a voluntary basis. This is also a special feature of community cooperatives. The current bookstore membership has grown from the original 12650 people, including more than 200 members who do not live in Clevedon, but also very much hope to support this cooperative form.

    After interviewing many cooperatives, I found that people who want to set up a labor cooperative want a good life, and more people who form a community cooperative have a stable and good life, hoping to build an ideal Spiritual world.

    The second-hand bookstore is open from 9 am to 4 pm, and about 30 stable volunteers are needed every week to ensure good operation. Members will fill in the Google Calendar of the bookstore one month in advance to fill in the time they can contribute to scheduling.

    Because the book sources of second-hand bookstores come from donations, the workload of bibliographic organization is huge, including organizing, putting on shelves, and even uploading photos to online bookstores. A young mother with four children is in charge of this arduous job. She chose this job because she hoped that in addition to facing four children every day, she would also have her own space and time. In addition, she learned some network knowledge here and applied for university courses.

    〇 The mother of the four children volunteered to work in the community bookstore, and can get some time alone outside taking care of the children, as well as work here Opportunity for learning.

    Later, everyone found that volunteers can actually ask for something when they come here to work: some people may need friends, and some people may like the delicious snacks here. Many people don’t necessarily need a full-time job. They can use it as a short transition, learn new skills, expand their network, etc. Later, they also issued work certificates to volunteers who have worked here for more than six months to add points to their resumes.

    As a “commercial” shop, even if it is a cooperative without any labor costs, there are still operating costs such as rent, water, electricity and gas. The monthly rent of the bookstore is about 800 pounds, which is basically the same as the sales of used books.The warehouse rent of 6,000 pounds per year can also be shared by the online sales.

    〇 Organizing second-hand books is a very complicated job. Members of the team coordinate schedules through the network and take turns to volunteer.

    Today, capital is everywhere, Britain’s post offices and even railway trains are privatized. But when there are problems with private companies, or where capital is unwilling to reach them, people can only rely on themselves to “service” themselves. These “community-owned” community cooperatives such as pubs, bookstores, movie theaters, and nurseries now appearing in Britain may be a completely different exploration path from capital.

    3. Consumer cooperatives in the community: Green Valley Food Miscellaneous Cooperatives

    • Consumer Cooperatives

      Cooperatives owned by consumers that provide these consumers with the products and services they need.
      

      〇 The interior view of the Green Valley Food and Miscellaneous Consumer Cooperative.

      In the above two cases, the “boss” of the cooperative is the staff and the residents of the community. Can customers be “bosses” and set up their own cooperative stores? We came to the small town of Slaithwaite, a 40-minute drive from Manchester, and visited a food store called Green Valley Grocery Cooperative (Green Valley Grocer) .

      Like the Clevton Bookstore Cooperative, Green Valley Consumer Cooperative was formerly a private store. The member who hosted our house, Carol, often came here to help her mother buy vegetables. In early 2009, affected by the financial turmoil, this food store serving the community was faced with the dilemma of having to close the store if it could not continue to operate.

      Although it is not too far from the big city, there is no place nearby for purchasing daily necessities. And if this grocery store is closed, the butcher shop next door is also ready to close. So everyone has to drive 40 minutes to Manchester to buy food. Community residents feel that this way, the town will only become more depressed. So why not try to keep it? With the help of Co-operative UK, more than 100 residents in the community jointly funded the establishment of a cooperative so that this community store can continue to serve the community, and the original owner of the store has also become a member here.

      〇 Green Valley Foods was originally a private store.

      〇 The current Green Valley Cooperative Store.

      Originally, I just wanted to drive it back to make it easier for everyone to buy things, but once it became a cooperative, community residents found that they have more ways to cooperate.

      For example, the cooperative initially purchased products from wholesalers, but later a German supermarket opened in a small town, causing them to lose a lot of customers. This incident also made them think more: Since they can’t compete with the low-price strategies of international supermarket chains, how can cooperatives survive better?

      The answer for members is that since they are positioned to serve the community, they need to interact more with the local community. So they started looking for local suppliers and marked the goods as locally produced products. Britain has a high proportion of vegetables and fruits imported. They want to make everyone aware of the importance of local consumption and slowly transform cooperatives into community-supported platforms. The members discussed together and decided that in addition to local, there could be “super local” producers: for example, their apples and vegetables came from farms within 30 miles; milk, honey and jam were purchased within five miles. In addition to cooperatives, they hope that residents of the community and surrounding farmers can also form a circle of common prosperity.

      〇 Local organic products are the flagship of Green Valley Cooperative.

      〇 Cooperative Association Reminder: According to this, the origin of the jam is not more than 10 miles.

      〇 “Super local” milk comes from a husband and wife farmer nearby.

      The goal set by Green Valley Cooperative in 2015 is to hope that the local product share will reach 50% in 2016, and it will probably reach 40% to 50% when interviewed in early 2016.

      By 2016, the number of members of cooperatives has exceeded 300. In addition to members, community residents who have not joined the cooperative will often come here to purchase, with an average of about 800 or 900 consumers per week. They also hope that it will become a place for community residents to interact and truly serve and integrate into the community.

      • About CO-operative UK

        Speaking of British cooperative organizations, I have to mention Co-operatives UK. With their help, many companies have successfully transformed into cooperatives. They are committed to promoting, developing and uniting more cooperative organizations to build networks for British cooperative organizations.

        After the financial crisis in 2008, SMEs were greatly affected and they closed down. Together with the British cooperative group, they set up a company called Enterprise Hub (Enterprise Hub) < / span> project to help these SMEs transform into cooperatives or assist in the establishment of new cooperatives. To 2In 014, they helped establish more than 1,500 cooperatives of various types in just a few years. The communities and consumer cooperatives in this article were established with their assistance.

        Website: https://www.uk.coop/
        

        The three examples in this article are labor, community, and consumer cooperatives. Combined with the seven principles of cooperatives, we can compare them. Do these cooperatives really implement the concept of cooperation: voluntary and open membership; democratic membership control; economic participation of members; autonomy

        And autonomy; education and training and advocacy; inter-community cooperation and community care.

        Through a series of visits and interviews with cooperatives, “Operation is democracy, but human nature is tested” is my understanding and summary of cooperatives.

        
        

        Images: Provided by the author except description

        This article comes from WeChat public account: 食 通 社 (ID: foodthinkchina) author: Eva Chen