Archive for November, 2009

A Chicago Public School Studies Mondragon Worker-Owned Coops

by Editors @ Sunday, November 15th, 2009. Filed under Economy

Forget Rio - Austin Kids Headed to Spain


Students to learn self-empowerment

and economic development


Photo: Bon voyage: Good grades and recommendations from teaches landed eight students from Austin Polytechnical Academy, a Chicago public high school, a chance to study in Spain.

 

By LA RISA LYNCH,

Contributing Reporter
October 07, 2009

Good grades and recommendations from teachers garnered eight lucky Austin Polytechnical Academy students a chance to study abroad. And the country of choice is where Nikki Green, 16, has dreamed about going ever since she was little.

"I always wanted to go to Spain," said Green, a junior at the academy.

Her aunt often traveled to Spain and would bring back mementos from the places she visited. Green hoped her group's nine-day trip would include a stop in Barcelona. But she will have to settle for Madrid instead.

"I'm excited," she said. "I can't wait."

Students embark on their journey today.

The trip to Spain is not your usual study abroad program. The kids will have a chance to learn the Spanish language and explore the country's history and culture while touring Madrid, Segovia and Toledo. But they will also look at how creating jobs in manufacturing revitalized one small Spanish town nearly devastated by civil war.

Students will spend five days in Madrid and then four in Mondragon, located in the Basque region in northern Spain. They'll stay in a local university dormitory while visiting a manufacturing cooperative that contributes to much of Spain's economy. The area of Mondragon is an allegory for the Austin community, said Erica Swinney-Stein, director of community programs at Center for Labor and Community Research, which is sponsoring the trip.

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Steelworkers Aim at Job Creation with Worker-Owned Factories

by Editors @ Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009. Filed under Economic Democracy, Organizing, Socialism, Trade Unions

Photo: High-tech Machine Tools from MCC

‘One Worker, One Vote:'

US Steelworkers to Experiment

with Factory Ownership,

Mondragon Style


By Carl Davidson
SolidarityEconomy.net


Oct. 27, 2009--The United Steel Workers Union, North America's largest industrial trade union, announced a new collaboration with the world's largest worker-owned cooperative, Mondragon International, based in the Basque region of Spain.


News of the announcement spread rapidly throughout the communities of global justice activists, trade union militants, economic democracy and socialist organizers, green entrepreneurs and cooperative practitioners of all sorts. More than a few raised an eyebrow, but the overwhelming response was, "Terrific! How can we help?"
The vision behind the agreement is job creation, but with a new twist. Since government efforts were being stifled by the greed of financial speculators and private capital was more interested in cheap labor abroad, unions will take matters into their own hands, find willing partners, and create jobs themselves, but in sustainable businesses owned by the workers.

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Mondragon in the US: Background to the United Steel Workers Agreement

by Editors @ Sunday, November 1st, 2009. Filed under Economic Democracy, High Road Economics

Photo: High Tech Tools from

Mondragon headed for China

[Editor's Note: Written before the new collaboration between Mondragon and the United Steel Workers was announced, this article still gives some valuable background.]

Mondragon Cooperatives:

What Relevance for US

Cooperative Development?


By Bernard Marszalek

Oct.27, 2009 - A recent weeklong conference in Sonoma, California – The Economics of Peace – featured a day devoted to lectures and workshops on the cooperatives associated with the Mondragon Cooperative Corporation (MCC). This event marks the third occasion in the last six months where representatives from the MCC, located in the Basque region of Spain, appeared in the US. Previously both Cleveland and Detroit hosted discussions with the MCC. While US developers of worker cooperatives have toured the Mondragon complex since the 80’s, these recent visits are noteworthy as first for the MCC. 


In each case the MCC representatives were returning a visit from a US group, so we can’t presume that the frequency of visits will be maintained. Nonetheless the increased public exposure to the cooperative enterprises founded over 50 years ago in the city of Mondragon is significant. The raised profile of Mondragon in the US prompts some thoughts of MCC’s role within the worker community. I am hoping that the following comments, from someone with only a tangential relationship to co-op development (I consider myself an activist, not a “developer”) will generate a discussion about the future of worker cooperatives in a world that increasingly shows signs of complete collapse.

 
But let me begin noting the amazing success of an experiment (the term the MCC uses) begun by a poor parish priest over sixty years ago. Today, the MCC is a complex worth 24 billion dollars and employing 100,000 in 120 enterprises all over the globe. It comprises factories, banks, insurance agencies and a network of retail stores throughout Spain. Globally the MCC invests in industries located all over Europe, Latin America and Asia.

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