“Worker cooperatives
allow businesses to be more than money-making enterprises,” said local co-op
worker/owner Liz McDonnell of Fortnight Wine Bar, “When
workers are owners and owners are workers, everyone is invested in the
day-to-day and the long-term goals of the business. This permits the business
to be more responsive to its community, making it a great place to live, work,
and visit. I’m excited to give the worker cooperative model the legitimacy and
clarity of its own enabling law.”“Cooperatives are part of the solution to the problem of working in a capitalist economy,” said McDonnell, “in a traditional business workers sell their labor and the product of that labor belongs to the owner, not to the worker. So there’s a disconnect between your work and what you produce. Control over the terms of labor are also in the hands of the owner, with the worker negotiating at best from a position of weakness. In contrast, cooperatives allow workers to be reconnected to the product of their labor, to be invested to their work and recognized for the work that they do.”
Senator Donna Nesselbush (Democrat,
District 15, Pawtucket, North Providence) and Representative Robert Craven (Democrat,
District 32, North Kingstown) have introduced bills that will allow worker
owned cooperatives to be started in Rhode Island. House Bill 6001,
and Senate Bill 676 will
allow organizations of working people to start cooperatively owned business.
Current law makes it very difficult to form worker cooperatives, as it involves a lot of legal work, but the new law seeks to streamline that process.
Current law makes it very difficult to form worker cooperatives, as it involves a lot of legal work, but the new law seeks to streamline that process.
RI Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea worked with
the Center for Justice, Fuerza Laboral and RI Jobs with Justice to come
up with the legal structure for worker cooperatives. “I remember thinking,
who’s going to oppose this,” said Gorbea. “You have people ready and willing to
start business, albeit with a slightly different structure than what’s out
there right now. So I’m very proud to support this initiative.”
Miguel
Henao of Healthy Planet is
originally from Colombia and formerly a medical student and environmental
activist. Miguel’s commitment and creativity has most recently been applied to
the cooperative ownership movement. “Shared ownership and shared effort are the
foundation of my community, co-operatives make sense, culturally, socially, and
economically,” said Henao, “I am so happy to see this global movement gain a foothold
in my adopted home.”
Fuerza
Laboral has been working
on a co-operative incubator for the past four years. Fuerza Laboral has been
training, refining and developing a scale-able and easily implemented
cooperative business model.
Fuerza director Heiny Maldonado sees the immediate need in the immigrant community as well as the need for new community wealth creation. “It is high time we recognize the creative business potential of Rhode Island’s diverse and beautiful immigrant community,” said Maldonado.
Fuerza director Heiny Maldonado sees the immediate need in the immigrant community as well as the need for new community wealth creation. “It is high time we recognize the creative business potential of Rhode Island’s diverse and beautiful immigrant community,” said Maldonado.
Organizations
supporting the legislation include the Sierra
Club, the Environmental
Justice League, 3rd
Sector New England, Farm
Fresh RI, Access Consulting,
Fortnight Wine Bar, Healthy Planet, Worcester
Roots and the Economic
Progress Institute.
Steve Ahlquist is an award-winning journalist, writer,
artist and founding member of the Humanists of Rhode Island, a non-profit group
dedicated to reason, compassion, optimism, courage and action. The views
expressed are his own and not necessarily those of any organization of which he
is a member. atomicsteve@gmail.com
and Twitter: @SteveAhlquist