Highlights

ARTICLES OF COOPERATION (PDF)
BY-LAWS OF THE MULTI-PURPOSE COOPERATIVE (PDF)

What is a Cooperative?

A co-operative 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.

Ranging from small-scale to multi-million dollar businesses across the globe, co-operatives employ more than 100 million women and men (20% more than multinational enterprises combined), and have more than 800 million individual members.

Cooperatives were officially born in 1844 when theRochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers established the Rochdale Principles on which they ran their cooperative, when the basis for development and growth of the modern cooperative movement was established.

The co-operative model of enterprise can be applied to any business activity. They exist in traditional economic sectors such as agriculture, fisheries, consumer and financial services, housing, and production (workers' co-operatives). However, co-operative activity spans to large number of sectors and activities including car-sharing child-care, health and social care, funeral, orchestras and philharmonics, schools, sports, tourism, utilities (electricity, water, gas, etc.), and transport (taxis, buses, etc).

The Cooperative Principles

Cooperatives are based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. In the tradition of their founders, cooperative members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others.

The co-operative principles are guidelines by which co-operatives put their values into practice.

1st Principle: Voluntary and Open Membership
Co-operatives are voluntary organisations, open to all persons able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender, social, racial, political or religious discrimination.

2nd Principle: Democratic Member Control
Co-operatives are democratic organisations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting their policies and making decisions. Men and women serving as elected representatives are accountable to the membership. In primary co-operatives members have equal voting rights (one member, one vote) and co-operatives at other levels are also organised in a democratic manner.

3rd Principle: Member Economic Participation
Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of their co-operative. At least part of that capital is usually the common property of the co-operative. Members usually receive limited compensation, if any, on capital subscribed as a condition of membership. Members allocate surpluses for any or all of the following purposes: developing their co-operative, possibly by setting up reserves, part of which at least would be indivisible; benefiting members in proportion to their transactions with the co-operative; and supporting other activities approved by the membership.

4th Principle: Autonomy and Independence
Co-operatives are autonomous, self-help organisations controlled by their members. If they enter to agreements with other organisations, including governments, or raise capital from external sources, they do so on terms that ensure democratic control by their members and maintain their co-operative autonomy.

5th Principle: Education, Training and Information
Co-operatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers, and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their co-operatives. They inform the general public - particularly young people and opinion leaders - about the nature and benefits of co-operation.

6th Principle: Co-operation among Co-operatives
Co-operatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the co-operative movement by working together through local, national, regional and international structures.

7th Principle: Concern for Community
Co-operatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies approved by their members.

Cooperative Values

• Self-Help

  This value has a dual reference. On one hand, it refers to the individual person and on the other, it refers to the such as a cooperative. Self-Help as a value obligates/ encourages the individual person to satisfy his/her own needs and obligations through personal effort to the extent reasonably possible under the circumstances. An important need obligation is the contribution to the realization of a healthy sustainable community.

  This is very important element in achieving human fulfilment. As a corollary, the same reasoning and logic applies to the collective self such as, cooperative. This value obligates/encourages the collective self to satisfy their collective needs and obligation through their own efforts to the extent reasonably possible under the circumstances. It is form this value that the idea flows and each individual member owner of the collective, i.e. cooperative, share the responsibility for the success of the cooperative.

• Self-Responsibility

  This value, similar to the previous one, has a dual reference. The individual person is obligated and encouraged by the value to be responsible for his/ her own well-being and to take responsibility for any consequences that flow from whatever he/she does in pursuit of personal need satisfaction. The corollary to this is that the collective self is responsible for its own being and for the consequences that flow from that pursuit.

• Democracy

  Democracy is a philosophy or practice of governance in which the people are collectively the repository of authority. The exercise of that authority is democratically legitimate only if the people who will be affected by that exercise are consulted openly and freely. Popular elections in and of themselves do not a democracy make. Free and open discussion, deliberation and consultation are essential preconditions to elections as democratic elements. Of course, that means that the people or members have reasonable access to all information relevant to the decisions respecting the exercise of the authority of which they are the repository.

• Equality

  Equality as a value flows from the traditional wisdom that each person, irrespective of talent, skill or appearance possesses an intrinsic value and thus as a human being is of no greater or lesser value than anyone else. Each person is intrinsically valuable, without the attachment of inferiority or superiority. While certain skills and talents may be of greater importance to the well being of a collective, be it a society, community or cooperative each and every person as human being within that collective is of equal value.

  This value is particularly pertinent to decision- making and governance of the collective requiring that each person in that collective has a reasonable opportunity to participate in that decision-making and governance. This value is particularly and peculiarly relevant to democracy and democratic governance.

• Equity

  This value has two distinct but related meanings. One meaning of this value is an end. The other meaning is that of a means to that end Equity as an end refers to fairness in the relationship between and among individuals and the manner with which authority is exercised over persons. Equity as a means refers to the ownership of property/ assets which persons can protect themselves against exploitation by others, mainly corporate interests.

  This value has two distinct but related meanings. One meaning of this value is an end. The other meaning is that of a means to that endEquity as an end refers to fairness in the relationship between and among individuals and the manner with which authority is exercised over persons. Equity as a means refers to the ownership of property/ assets which persons can protect themselves against exploitation by others, mainly corporate interests.

  In the cooperative that ownership gives the owner/ member the right to participate in the decision of the cooperative which along with the participation of all the other members/owners of the cooperative, assure each and all of them fairness in their relations with each other an the collective, i.e., the cooperative. It is the equity which provides the owners with the right and opportunity to structure the decision-making and governance process that will assure that fairness is an essential characteristic of the cooperative.

• Solidarity

  Solidarity as a value refers to the respect and dignity with which the individual persons of a community relate to one another. It is a relationship that grows out of each person seeing the other as valuable as the self. Solidarity also encompasses the concept of interdependency which is so critical to the health and vitality of the cooperative. Community is an important product of solidarity, or as a corollary, solidarity is an essential characteristic of the successful cooperative.

• Honesty

  This value has the quality of both and means. Honesty is good in itself and is a means to other good. Honesty is an important prerequisite to continuing good relations among persons and within collectives such as cooperative. Honesty is both quality of, and a means to, human fulfilment. Truth is a critically important component of rewarding community an collective life. Honesty is the sine qua non for the individual and the collective of individuals experiencing and benefiting from the truth.

• Openness

  This value refers to the structure and reasonable availability to the membership of information and knowledge relevant to the successful life of the organization or cooperative. This value presupposes that the governance of the organization is a democracy, hence the membership collective is the repository of the authority ex non for the individual and the collective of individuals experiencing and benefiting from the truth.

• Social-Responsibility

  This value is most relevant to the public image which the cooperative enjoys or suffers in the community to which it serves and beyond. On the one hand, it refers to the cooperative accepting responsibility for an ameliorating the negative consequences for society stemming from its action and operations. On the other hand, social responsibility to work towards the betterment of society and towards the amelioration of oppressive conditions in that society.

• Caring for others

  Caring for others was and continues to be the prime mover in the establishment of successful cooperative the world over. This value refers to the obligations that each individual co-operator, each cooperative and the cooperative movement as a whole must act in such a way as not to cause harm or difficulty for others either of today, tomorrow or of the distant future. Additionally, this value imposes the obligation and requirement on every element of the cooperative movement to be pro-active in leadership towards rectifying the structural and social causes of oppression and in dignity. This value flows out of the ancient, but nonetheless relevant, dictum: Do unto others what you would have them do unto you.