national union worker cooperative movement

National Union Worker Cooperative MovementCreating an Economy that Works for All.

The Inspiration• Mondragon is the top industrial group in the Basque region,

ranked 10th in Spain with 80,000 personnel, a presence in 70 countries, and winner of the 2013 Financial Times “Boldness in Business” award.

• With its own bank, university, and insurance mutual, together with 12 cooperative laboratories holding more than 850 patents, Mondragon’s 60-year-old mission is to generate wealth for society through business development and job creation under the “one worker, one vote” cooperative framework.

• Mondragon holds that labor is sovereign and capital, while essential, is subordinate to labor and sustainable job creation.

The FoundationUnited Steel Workers 2009 Historic

Agreement w/Mondragon

Foundational Principles•Instead of a co-op standing alone it presents us with a co-op of co-ops

•Solidarity Culture~ found in both Mondragon and the American Labor movement

A for-profit businessowned and directed by workers.

This business model utilizes the collective bargaining process and is guided by the core

principles of sustainability, solidarity, accountability, and community and is based on the

Mondragon principles.

What Is a Union Co-op?

Union-Worker Cooperative Structure

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Board ofDirectors

UnionCommittee

Management

WorkerOwners

CUCI is a non-profit that partners with individuals and organizations to develop worker-owned businesses that create family-sustaining jobs and an economy that works for all. CUCI emerged from the historic partnership between Mondragon, the world’s most successful network of worker owned cooperatives, and the United Steelworkers

• All-volunteer, self-funded, cast wide net: integrated businesses, unions, universities, advocacy groups, banks, politicians, faith-based groups

• Cited as a national example of sweat equity economic development• Developed 7 projects and 1 union co-op business in 2 years as prototypes for

roll-out models (now used as templates in other geographies)• Example: Launched “Our Harvest Co-op” in April 2012 • Hosted International Union Co-op Symposium in December 2013

Vision: Worker owned farms and distribution and processing center for locally produced, sustainable food.

Progress: • First Mondragon-USW model union co-

op nationwide• To date has created 15 jobs including

eight worker-owners• Business model calls for 200 jobs in five

years • A self-funded $40k feasibility study led to

a $500k commercial loan in less than one operating year

• Practicum site for Cincinnati State's Sustainable Agriculture Management program

Working Group: CUCI ,UFCW, Mondragon, Ohio Employee Ownership Center, We Thrive!, OCDC, Ohio State University Agricultural Extension Office, and the Center for Community Change

Mission: Sustainergy is an energy efficiency contractor specializing in customized energy analysis, and retrofitting electrical and heating and cooling systems.

Progress: • Business Plan was completed in Fall of

2013 • Launched Dec 2013 w/3 worker owner

track team members and an organizing committee of 10

• CUCI & Sustainergy are playing a leading role in a coalition to enable a PACE district(Property Assessed Clean Energy) with responsible contracting in Cincinnati.

Steering Committee:  Greater Cincinnati Building and Construction Trade Council, Mondragon, Cincinnati Union-Co-op Initiative (CUCI), Greater Cincinnati Chapter of the Blue Green Alliance

Cincinnati Railway Manufacturing Co-opVision: Attract world renowned Mondragon Cooperative Group, Danobat Group Railways (DGR), to the North American market creating a unionized railway manufacturing cooperative to capitalize on the ongoing tremendous growth in the railroad industry in the United States.

Progress: • The Ohio Employee Ownership

Council (OEOC) finished the feasibility plan.

• Danobat Group Railways funded & commissioned an expanded market analysis study in Dec ’12.

• Feb ‘14: City of Cincinnati offer letter & DanoBat Delegates Visit

Steering Committee:  USW, Mondragon, Danobat Group Railways (a Mondragon Co-op), CUCI, OEOC, the Blue Green Alliance, and the NAACP of Hamilton/Fairfield/West Chester and Liberty Townships chapter.

Jewelry Makers Co-opVision: Sustain Sarah Center (a non profit that encourages women on the margins to build positive lives for themselves through jewelry making, health & wellness programming, & entrepreneurial education). Expand successful, high quality jewelry making operation to create family sustaining full time jobs.

Progress: Feasibility Study will be completed April 2014.

Steering Committee: USW, St. Francis Seraph Ministries (including Sarah Center), Mondragon, Applied Information Resources, CUCI, Design Impact

Vision: The Renting Partnerships organization provides the infrastructure - leadership, legal agreements, resources and services - to facilitate the exchange process and protect the interests of both owners and renters.

1) Model Legal Agreements 2) Facilitated Community-Based

Leadership 3) Administrative Practices4) A Financial System

 Progress: Feasibility Study completed. Business Plan in process. 

Steering Committee: USW, CUCI, Mondragon, Renting Partnerships

Vision: Create family sustaining full time jobs via baking and distributing cookies from proprietary recipes made with whole fruit and vegetables that have been proven delicious in premium NYC gourmet outlets. “A little bit of good, a whole lot of delicious”

Progress: In recipe development at World Outreach Christian Church

Steering Committee: UFCW, Mondragon, Our Harvest, Yucky Cookies, CUCI

Worker Owned Grocery Stores in Food DesertsVision: Create family sustaining full time jobs while meeting the need for grocery stores that can provide quality, affordable, walkable groceries in neighborhoods that are food deserts.

Progress: Market Study & Feasibility Study will be completed by Feb 28th, 2014.

Steering Committee:  UFCW, Mondragon, Our Harvest, CUCI, community stakeholders from Avondale, College Hill, and Northside

Working For a Neighborhood Grocery

 Northside • College Hill • Avondale

Fernando Fernandez de Landa, Director of the Americas, Mondragon, at the International Union Co-op Symposium, 12/13

Armando Robles of New Era Windows Cooperative (Chicago)

at the International Union Co-op Symposium, 12/13

1worker1vote.org

National Union Worker Co-op Movement

Txomin Garcia Hernandez, President of Laboral Kutxa and Charles Snyder, President and CEO of National Cooperative Bank

1worker1vote.org• Supports the creation, building, and launching of union worker cooperatives and union worker cooperative initiatives across the country under the 2009 USW-Mondragon “one worker, one vote” collaboration framework

• Creates a national network of union cooperatives (key to the 60-year-old Mondragon model, winner of the 2013 Financial Times “Boldness in Business” award)

• Inclusively intersects with all participants in America’s growing National Worker Ownership Movement to increase “1worker1vote” ownership visibly and profoundly nationwide

Inspiration & Model for Union Cooperatives

1Worker1Vote.org

Cincinnati

San Francisco - Oakland

Las Vegas

Denver

Chicago

St. Louis

Buffalo

Pittsburgh

Reading

NYC

• Visionary mayor, city staff, local committed business leaders and unions like the United Steelworkers and the Laborers

• Community Development Corporation: “Redesign Reading” ▫ Community bank ▫ Municipal finance agency ▫ Aggregate public funds

• New union co-op▫ Local Laborers International Union apprentices = worker-

owners▫ Training to do building demolition, deconstruction and

weatherization▫ City buildings used as training ground - provide jobs, training,

demolish/weatherize more buildings for the city and keep money local

Reading Union Cooperative Initiative

Union co-op green commercial laundry With sponsorship from the Heinz Endowments Less than $500k invested to create 100 jobs Re-employ and empower workers who are being

dislocated by former laundry Recruit and train low-income residents Each worker can expect to earn tens of thousands

of dollars in equity in the first few years Pays local business taxes as a for-profit enterprise An early anchor for the ALMONO site

development, representing the green, cutting-edge businesses that the owners are working to attract

1:1 Pittsburgh, PA

Join the Union Worker Cooperative Movement…

And be a part of this

GAME CHANGER FOR OUR COMMUNITIES

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Kristen Barker: kristenbar@gmail.com; 513.403.9963Michael Peck: mpeck@mapagroup.net