Marty Frost, of British Columbia's Devco Development Co-op speaks at the North American Worker Co-operative Conference, October 2011, Quebec City.  (Audio is a bit quiet.)

Via the Canadian Worker Co-op Federation (see their YouTube channel)

A video from FSRN's The Real News on the Restaurant Opportunities Center and Colors Restaurant.

Related

• Colors: Building a Cooperative Restaurant

Related

• A Brief History of Cooperative Home Care Associates

A short video introduces the opening of Ohio Cooperative Solar, one of the network of Evergreen Cooperatives in Cleveland Ohio.  The cooperative has begun to install photovoltaicpanels on the three anchor institutions that are part of Cleveland's economic empowerment zone: Case Western University, University Hospitals, and the Cleveland Clinic. 

The  cooperative will install, own, and maintain the panels that they install and sell the generated power to the host institutions.  As a for profit business they are entitled to government solar incentives that non-profit universities and hospitals cannot receive.  Because solar installation is not a year-round business in the Ohio, the cooperative diversified with a weatherization program for the colder months in order to create full-time jobs.   

CEO Steve Kiel, who says he is like an employee of the cooperative's 20 worker-owners, explains his goals include structured wealth creation for the workers' long term economic security.  A share of the company's surplus is allocated to the workers but retained in the company, capitalizing the business while creating long-term individual savings. 

Via the Cooperative Development Center at Kent State University

As a tangental nod to the emergence of the Occupy protests and their spontaneous democratic structures, here's Peter Watkins' epic (5 hour) docudrama, popular education ensemble theater, and anachronistic media critique, La Commune, Paris 1871.   The worker cooperatives begin to organize late in hour 3, though of course the excerpt is more meaningful if you've been following the tale for a while.    

Here 's a taste, where "CommuneTV" interviews Parisians behind the barricades to find out what their demands are.

"La Commune is the name given to the French revolutionary government established by the people of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871). On March 17 and 18, Parisians led an uprising against the national government, which fled the capital and re-established itself in Versailles. The radicals established a proletarian government in Paris, called the Central Committee of the National Guard, and set March 26 as the date for the election of a municipal council. This council became known as the Commune of 1871, and its members as Communards. Most Communards were followers of Louis Auguste Blanqui, a revolutionary held prisoner in Versailles by the head of the National Assembly, Adolphe Thiers. Other Communards supported the school of socialism expounded by the French philosopher Pierre Joseph Proudhon and members of the International Workingmen's Association, of which Karl Marx was then a corresponding secretary.

For the film LA COMMUNE we travel back in time to 1871. A journalist for Versailles Television broadcasts a soothing and official view of events while a Commune television is set up to provide the perspectives of the Paris rebels. On a stage-like set, more than 200 actors interpret characters of the Commune, especially the Popincourt neighborhood in the XIth arrondissement. They voice their own thoughts and feelings concerning the social and political reforms. The telling of this story rests primarily on depicting the people of the Commune, and those who suppressed them.

Deliberately, this film is an attempt to challenge existing notions of documentary film, as well as the notions of 'neutrality' and 'objectivity' so beloved by the mass media today. The film is not intended as an apologia on behalf of the Paris Commune. But at the same time, it attempts to show that the Paris Commune, for all its human frailty, its internal conflicts and its blundering, was an event of major importance, not least because of the way in which its leading reformers tried to work with social process, by a direct involvement with the community and its needs."

Arizmendi Bakery in Emeryville gets the spotlight on NBC Sports Sunday's Late Night Snack segment.

Richard Wolff,  Professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, spoke on Democracy Now:

JUAN GONZALEZ: I want to ask you—2012 was declared recently by the United Nations to be the year of co-operatives. Can you speak to alternative democratic models that might be brought into play and might have some impact on where the economies of the U.S. and Europe are heading?

RICHARD WOLFF: Yeah. I think that we’re going to see a lot of interest, because of the U.N., but for many other reasons. This is a system that isn’t working, the traditional enterprise that we have in the United States. Shareholders, usually a few that own the bulk of the shares, select a board of directors, 15 to 20 people who make all the decisions. They’ve made those decisions—where to invest, how to invest, what to do with the profits. And here we are with the results: high unemployment, economies in collapse, bailouts needed almost on a regular basis. I think more and more people are beginning to recognize we need fundamental change.

And one of the models of an alternative would be a different way to organize a store, an office, a factory. And instead of a top-down, conventional, shareholder-driven entity, why not bring, as we say—and in your program, in particular, it would be appropriate—why not bring some democracy to the enterprise? Why not try to let the people in each enterprise make these decisions democratically and collectively, both within their enterprise and with the communities that are interdependent with these enterprises? Let’s start from that.

And, you know, think a minute with me. If the workers themselves made the decision, would they move the factory out of the country as quickly as we see capitalist enterprises do? I don’t think so. Would they use dangerous technologies that are toxic? Not likely, because they live with it, and so do their children, right there. The decision isn’t made by a board of directors thousands of miles away. And would they use the profits in a more socially useful way that benefits everybody? Well, they are everybody. That’s what democracy means. And I think we would see a lot less speculation, a lot less of the problems that have gotten us to the impasse now, if we were open enough as a society to look at alternative ways of organizing our business and make our commitment to democracy mean something, not just in the communities where we live, but in the workplaces where we spend most of our adult lives.

Previously

• Economics Professor Richard Wolff Speaks on Workplace Democracy

The Global Launch of the International Year of Cooperatives was mandated by the United Nations General Assembly in its resolution 65/184.  The International Year of Cooperatives is intended to raise public awareness of the invaluable contributions of cooperative enterprises to poverty reduction, employment generation and social integration. The Year will also highlight the strengths of the cooperative business model as an alternative means of doing business and furthering socioeconomic development.

A look into the "HOW" of the Occupy Wall Street movement: The consensus process.  The community of occupiers at Liberty Plaza have sparked the process of building a movement that now transcends any one physical landmark. The tools to keep the movement alive belong to all of us.  Created by the Meerkat Media Collective. For the last 6 years we've been using consensus decision making in our filmmaking process. 

Linda Hogan and Terry Daniels of hOur World talk about Time Banks in a presentation for PODER in San Francisco October 11, 2011. Time Banks are a way to get and receive services without total dependence on cash. Their roots reach deep into our history and saved many during the Depression of the 1930's. Time Banks are making a giant comeback- and this time may be here for good!

Via Mighty Small Films

Richmond, CA is actively encouraging worker cooperatives as a solution to unemployment. Worker, consumer, producer & housing cooperatives have long existed in the region, and Terry Baird is a veteran of that movement. He also presents the International Cooperative Principles for that section of the upcoming, "This Way Out: A Guide to Starting A Worker Cooperative" DVD coming out soon.

"After years of waiting on a Brooklyn street corner trying to land jobs cleaning houses, Teresa Bucio decided there had to be a better way to earn a living.  Like dozens of Latina immigrants, Ms. Bucio, 33, used to stand at the corner of Division and Marcy Avenues in Williamsburg every morning, hoping to be hired.  The intersection — a bare cement triangle overlooking a sunken stretch of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway — is an unusual all-women day labor site where residents of the heavily Hasidic neighborhood find people to clean their homes. Ligia Guallpa, an advocate for day laborers who has assisted women at the site for years, estimated that some 200 women congregated there over any given week, and many of them are illegal immigrants.

But work is by no means guaranteed. Before the Sabbath or Jewish holidays, the demand for cleaners increases; on other days, many women never leave the corner.  So some of them decided they would take matters into their own hands and start a business.  “If they pick you up for two or three hours, that’s good,” said Ms. Bucio, who moved to the United States from Michoacán, Mexico, with her sister in 1997. “And if not, in any case, you go like you arrived, with empty hands.”

Last November, the Bucio sisters founded the Apple Eco-Friendly Cleaning cooperative with a handful of women whom they met at the Williamsburg hiring site. The group advertises on recycled paper and makes its own cleaning products, forgoing harsh chemicals for ingredients like lemon juice, glycerin, borax and fruit oils. The women taught themselves to make the cleansers and refined their recipes through a combination of Internet research and trial and error.  “When we say we’re from a company with a business card, they treat you differently from the time you arrive,” Yesenia Bucio, 32, Teresa Bucio’s sister, said. “I feel very good, very happy and I have very high self-esteem.”"

Watch video at the New York Times:

Related

• Apple Eco-Friendly Cleaning Cooperative joins 2011 Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy
  

Penticton and Area Cooperative Enterprises (PACE) is a worker cooperative committed to community base recovery through supported employment, supported education, and consumer operated services in Penticton, British Columbia.

In this day and age of growing cutbacks and less resources, we are looking towards innovations in delivery of Mental Health Services. This approach to Community Based Recovery is an alternative for Health Providers and Human Resource Ministries to consider. The elements of responsibility, work, and citizenship must be at the core of a solid rehabilitation program. Recovery must be viewed as the individual’s journey to reach their full potential and maintain control of their lives.

Mandate

To provide transition to employment, specific skill training, paid work opportunities and opportunities to develop consumer run businesses to persons diagnosed with a mental illness and referred by mental health service providers.

Issues that the Cooperative Addresses

PACE is a rehabilitation program that helps address the gap that exists with many Mental Health Services in the continuum of care provided for Mental Health clients in recovery. The gap exists largely in community based rehabilitation services that address the rehabilitation politics of inclusion and integration into society. This model has proven, over the past three years, that given the opportunity to participate in paid work, have control over their choices and movements they make on their journey towards integration and citizenship, clients stay well for longer periods and rely less on emergency services.

Description of the Cooperative

A new perspective on community based, vocational rehabilitation is alive and well in Penticton. The concept of developing a worker cooperative to assist our mental health clients to participate in paid employment opportunities is not a new idea. What makes this cooperative unique is that it is a multi-stakeholder cooperative where the membership is 70% client members and 30% supporters. The other unique aspect is that it is a “not for profit” cooperative meaning that all profits once payrolls and expenses are paid are directed back into the cooperative and not paid out to members as is the case in most corporations. This is not to be confused with a non profit society. The Penticton & Area Cooperative Enterprises (P.A.C.E.) is a business and is out there to make profit!

Presently PACE has a number of divisions or shall we say Consumer Run Businesses that operate under the mandate of the cooperative. These businesses each have their own “Worker Pool”. They meet once a week and make decisions about how they run their business. The motions made at these meetings give direction to the service providers working under PACE such as the operations manager, bookkeepers and front end staff and it gives the workers a strong sense of ownership. The cooperative model is effective as a Rehabilitation vehicle for Mental Health clients who often struggle with developing a strong sense of self, belonging and just feeling like they are contributing to community. The prospect and reality of earning extra money every month has also contributed to clients having a better quality of life and are looking forward to the future with hope.

Jenny Kassan of Cutting Edge Capital and the Sustainable Economies Law Center gives two video talks on raising capital as part of the NoBAWC Lecture Series.

Related

• GEO's John Lawrence reports on raising capital from the 2006 USFWC conference in New York City

"In New York City many are imagining--and creating--another way to do business. They are economic innovators combining new and old practices to align their businesses and organizations with strong values of justice, sustainability, democracy, and cooperation. Together, they make up something called the solidarity economy..."

"We're bringing the stories of these economic innovators to life through 7 short films, 1 stop-motion animation, and an informational website. Each film portrait examines the values and practices of a given business or organization through the story of an individual leader. We've included a reiki practitioner at a worker co-operative in Brooklyn; two co-founders of Brooklyn food co-operatives, including the most successful food co-op in America; a co-founder of a barter network for artists; a member of a 32-year-old successful intentional community on Staten Island; a community resident advocating for participatory budgeting in East Harlem; a board member at a Lower East Side community development credit union; and a veteran community gardens advocate in the Bronx...  Here's a sample from our food co-op film to give you an idea."