Worker co-operatives across the world have celebrated the International Workers’ Day by showcasing the important role played by the movement in maintaining jobs and generating employment.
The Spanish Confederation of Worker Co-operatives (Confederación Española de Cooperativas de Trabajo Asociado - COCETA) marked the day by highlighting the strength of worker co-operatives across the country. According to figures released by the Spanish Ministry of Employment, around 5.7% more worker co-operatives were set up in 2014, compared to the previous year. Co-operatives have also lost 10% less jobs as a result of the crisis.
“Co-operatives are enterprises more caring and transparent, more social and more dedicated,” said Juan Antonio Pedreño, president of COCETA on 1 May. “This is one of the reasons why, with democratic participation from their workers, they can survive moments of crisis”.
A study released last year by CICOPA -“Co-operatives and employment: a global report” revealed that at least 11m people worldwide are worker-members of co-operatives.
“Worker and social co-operatives put employees at the heart of the decision-making process. Together, they decide about the present and future of their enterprise. Considering the worsening situation of employment in the world, especially for the youth, governments cannot afford to look aside when the cooperative movement can offer a significant part of the solution”, said the president of CICOPA, Manuel Mariscal.
In Argentina more than 10,000 workers gathered in Luna Park in Buenos Aires to celebrate the International Workers’ Day. They came from the Argentinian Confederation of Worker Co-operatives (CNCT) and the Office of Argentinian Workers (Central de Trabajadores de la Argentina - CTA). The event featured a video message from the country’s president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.
In the USA some co-operatives were closed on May Day. Among them Rainbow Grocery, a worker-owned co-op from San Francisco and Cooperative Federal, a credit union in Syracuse, New York. 1 May was chosen as the International Workers’ Day to commemorate the 1886 Chicago protests in which four workers lost their lives following a confrontation with the police. They were marching for better labour rights and salaries. In Mexico a workers co-operative – Cooperativa La Cruz Azul led a commemoration march in Hidalgo for those who lost their lives in 1886. The co-op, which is one of the most famous cement enterprises in the country, was founded more than a century ago and is now the nucleus of a co-operative cluster in Cruz Azul.
Photo: Argentinian co-operators celebrating 1 May
