Co-operatives made it possible for many SMEs and small producers to remain on the market, as was recognized at the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises committee of the 104th Session of the International Labour Conference, on June 2nd, in Geneva.
Co-operatives and co-operative employment are important and are growing, and, more importantly for this discussion, that both cooperative SMEs are growing, as are cooperatives of SMEs.
Co-operative SMEs have a strong added value for the SME business ecosystem, as they generate among themselves a strong clustering effect, selling and buying an wide arrange of business support services at national or regional level (marketing, training, financing, advisory services, to name a few).
The evolutionary process by which the more they multiply the more they generate such services among themselves, is one of the reasons for the particularly strong resilience cooperative SMEs have shown in the crisis, in terms of enterprise survival, employment and capital to debt ratio, as is confirmed by reports of the International labour Organisation.
Co-operatives of SMEs have a double, positive effect for society, promoting decent work and labour standards because of the democratic checks and balances existing in them and because they are community-based. They also play an important role in helping small informal economy producers transition towards the formal economy.
The power of co-operatives as employers and businesses lies not only in the fuelling effect they have on the economy. It lies perhaps mostly in their democratic and society focused operations being intrinsically linked to the universal co-operative principles, which are unique to the co-operative business form.
Picture: Alliance Director Bruno Roelants (CICOPA) at the workers' group session of the ILO's Committee on SMEs, hosted at the 104th Session of the International Labour Conference, held on June 2nd, 2015, in Geneva.
