Worldwide nearly 800 million people are members of co-operatives. Co-operatives provide an estimated 100 million jobs. Co-operatives in nearly 100 countries are engaged in all types of economic activity. In many situations, co-ops are the dominant players in their industries.

Co-ops control 100 percent of Uganda’s cotton-ginning capacity, 99 percent of Sweden’s dairy production, 95 percent of Japan’s rice harvest, 75% of western Canada’s grain and oil seed output, and 65% of India’s sugar production. A co-op in Shanghai is considered a world leader in waste management and recycling techniques, and a co-op in Argentina is one of South America’s largest book publishers. In the United States rural electrical co-operatives operate more than half of the electrical lines providing power to more than 25 million people in 46 states.

Smaller co-ops are making huge differences in peoples lives throughout the world. In India, the Shri Mahila Sewa Sahakari Bank is a co-operative owned by and for 25,000 self-employed rural peasant women who earn their living as street vendors and seamstresses. In the Philipines it is estimated that 16% of the total job market is found in co-operatives.

Although significant, co-ops are only a minimal part of the dominant economies. But the extensive network of co-operatives throughout the world forms a strong foundation for building a co-operative economy in which people needs are placed before capital and profit.

"All the believers were together and had everything in common" Acts 1:44

Co-operatives have a different spirit from the capitalist corporation.  All co-operatives put the needs of their members before capital and all co-operatives are controlled democratically by their members.  These are core co-operative values.  Obviously co-operatives vary in how they are able to express their core values.  Some are able to keep people front and center - others find they have to bend a long way toward the demands of the market.  How they operate along this continuum determines how dominant the co-operative spirit is in the co-op's affairs.

All co-operatives are organized to provide a service to their members – as opposed to conventional businesses which are organized primarily for the profit of their shareholders. The co-operative’s assets are held in common for the benefit of all the members. Co-operatives are democratically controlled by their membership – the people who use their services. They are people-centred businesses in which capital is always secondary to people – members have voting rights but capital doesn’t. In addition co-operatives focus on empowering their members through education, support and work with other co-operatives in their communities, and support the communities in which they operate. Co-operatives are one expression of jubilee economics.

Co-operatives are a democratic way of organizing economic life. They operate in all economic sectors. They can be found in the agricultural, finance, manufacturing, health, daycare, housing, service, communications, and consumer sectors. Funeral co-operatives are found in many communities.

Many co-operatives in the western world were supported through their initial stages by church organizations to relieve the ravages of capitalism. Today most co-ops and churches have diverged so that there is minimal interaction. In the developing world, churches continue to be very involved with co-ops and promote co-ops as a development strategy.

Co-operatives are organized on the basis of their membership. There are consumer co-ops in which the people who use that service are the members. Credit unions and housing co-ops are consumer co-ops. Producer co-ops are prominent in the agricultural sector where farmers organize co-ops to market their products. Worker co-ops are found in all sectors as in these co-ops the members are the workers in the businesses.

Because co-operatives can operate in all economic sectors, they can be integrated so that a regional economy can be directed to serve the interests of the whole community. An example of this is the Mondragon complex of co-operatives in the Basque region of Spain. Here an integrated system of some 100 co-operatives provides 40,000 good jobs in industries ranging from car parts to robotics and services from finance to healthcare and education. The key element within these co-operatives is that the profits from the businesses are all re-invested in further community economic development instead of flowing to outside shareholders. As a result this co-operative system has become the major economic engine in the local economy. The Mondragon co-op experience proves the fallacy of conventional economics, as all this co-op development has occurred in an isolated region. In most of the world, capitalist economic theory and practices have devastated rural regions and led to huge urban slums and barrios, relegating hundreds of millions of people to subsistence levels of existence.

Canada has more than 10,000 co-operatives, credit unions, and caisse populaires operating in every region of the country that employ more than 160,000 people.

Canada has a well developed co-operative financial system. Credit Unions and caisse populaires are found in almost all communities and are backed-up by an integrated financial services system providing internet banking services to system liquidity. As the banks abandon small communities, 900 small communities depend exclusively on credit unions or caisse populaires for financial services. Any Canadian can become a member of a credit union or caisse populaire.

Agricultural co-operatives now range from large businesses among Canada’s top 500 corporations to small co-ops supporting local niche markets.

Consumer co-ops range from the large federated food system in the west, the east’s Co-op Atlantic, Mountain Equipment Co-op, and hundreds of locally-based service groups.  Arctic Co-ops provide consumer services in remote northern communities, provide marketing to numerous producer groups, and are the largest employer in the territories after the government.

70,000 Canadian families live in mixed-income co-operative housing.

Worker co-ops, operating in various economic sectors, are well-established in Quebec. They are emerging in various parts of English Canada as a strategy for local economic development and democratic control of business.

This system of co-operatives was developed over the past century. It is an excellent foundation for developing a co-operative economy which can include and benefit all people.

In common with all co-operatives, the most significant constraint on Canadian co-op business development is access to financing. The large co-op systems have some capability to self-finance through retained earnings. Smaller co-ops can  grow and develop only with access to outside financing.

In order for a co-op economy to develop, co-operatives must have access to capital. The growth and development of co-operatives throughout the world is constrained by the lack of capital for co-operative businesses. This occurs largely because co-operatives have values which are diametrically opposed to the assumptions of capital markets.

Co-ops legally place people before capital. This is the opposite of the capitalist framework in which people are always subservient to capital. In addition all co-ops are democratic – each member has one vote.

Co-ops separate individual rights from property rights. As a result, members have one vote irrespective of the amount of co-op shares they may own. Co-operatives can accept non-member investment. Such investment is usually in the form of non-voting preferred shares.

As a co-operative is organized primarily for service to members, its shares return a dividend based on an interest rate. Co-op shares to not increase in value and, as a result, do not participate in capital gains. Upon share redemption, co-op investors receive the face value of the shares plus the accumulated dividends.

Within our society, capital wants to be in full and exclusive control.

Because co-op shares can not be traded on a market, co-operatives can not raise funds on the financial markets. Mutual funds do not include co-op shares and few, if any, financial planners recommend purchasing co-op shares. Therefore, personal financial plans will not include co-op investment unless the individual personally seeks out co-op investment.

As an alternative to investing in the capitalist market, people can invest directly in the co-operative economy. Within the Canadian context, co-op shares are eligible investments for registered retirement savings plans. Examples of co-operative business investment in Canada are Snow Lake Fish Farms, Planet Bean Fair Trade Coffee, and Eco-Nomad. For information on how to invest in these types of initiatives contact the co-op federation at owcfcame@web.ca.

In other countries, contact your national or regional co-op federation for local co-op investment opportunities.

By combining capital with the resources and skills of the people who are developing the local co-op economies, we can build on the existing infrastructures to create an economy which is much more expressive of jubilee economics.

Credit Unions and Caisse Populaires

Credit Union Central of Canada provides information on Canadian Credit Unions.  This site can refer you to a credit union in your community.

The Mouvement Desjardin is a federation of Quebec Caisse Populaires.

The Credit Union National Association in the United States provides information on the American credit union system and can refer inquiries to a local credit union.

The World Council of Credit Unions can connect to credit unions in various countries.

Co-operatives

The Canadian Co-operative Association provides information on Canadian co-operatives and links to its various member co-operatives.

The International Co-operative Association is the international association of co-operatives and credit unions.  Links are provided to co-operative organizations on the various continents.

The International Co-operative Information Center works in conjunction with the International Co-operative Association to provide information about co-operatives worldwide.  It also provides information and links to American co-operatives.