Worker Co-operative Council Elections 2012

Voting is now open for the Worker Co-operative Council Elections! All worker co-operative members of Co-operatives UK have been sent Ballot Papers and should now have received them. Below is copy of the biographical details of the members standing for election.

These people will represent your views and help guide Co-operatives UK's strategy from the point of view of worker co-operatives. The three successful candidates will be invited to our AGM on the 25th April and will be appointed to the Worker Co-operative Council, why not come and join them.

The nominees are:

Sion Whellens – Calverts North Star Press Ltd.
Sion Whellens is a member of the communications co-operative, Calverts. He has been a member of worker, housing and consumer co-operatives since 1982. He founded the Principle Six co-operative business referral network, and has served on both the WCC and the board of Co-operatives UK (2006-2011), where he chaired the Appointments and Remuneration committee. He is vice chair of Co-operatives London.

Sion believes that the priorities for the WCC over the coming years should be:

• To continue to develop profitable political and business networks between worker co-ops, the wider movement and with radical new social and economic currents
• To help develop new types of co-operative business, with innovative stakeholding models which enfranchise more working class people
• To contribute to a Co-operatives UK led campaign to raise the profile and confidence of the movement, and greatly increase public awareness of and approval for co-operation as a distinct ‘social business brand’

Steve Dixon – Anglia Home Furnishings Holdings Ltd.
I have 15 years experience in Risk Management, Internal Audit and Corporate Compliance, six of which have been spend in the co-operative and social enterprise sector.

I am currently one of three partners at the Big Fish Partnership where I advise Boards in the corporate governance aspects of company formation, having written company constitutions and corporate governance codes.

One of my clients includes a large employee co-operative where I focused on increasing employee engagement and promoting the benefits of the co-operative model with the membership.

Away from work, I enjoy spending time with my family, going to the gym, reading and socialising with friends. I am also a school governor at a local primary school.

If elected to this position, I would like to use my skills and experience to support member organisations and promote the employee co-operative sector and the benefits that organisations can achieve through this structure.

Lyn Hope – Midshires Clothing
My involvement with Co-operatives started 15 years ago with Queen Eleanor, a Co-op Workwear manufacturer in Kettering. Hit by competitor’s cheap imports, the factory closed, leaving a highly skilled workforce, with no jobs left in the industry.

Not to be beaten, we set up our own Worker Co-operative to provide employment for clothing workers. As well as being Age Positive we aim to pass our unique skills on to future generations via apprenticeship schemes.

I believe that Co-operatives like ours are the way forward to rebuilding the British economy, but it is about so much more than that; It’s about preserving skills and valuing the people who have them.

I would relish the chance to work with other Co-operators and find a way to encourage the set up of more Co-operatives as a way to get people working again.

Bob Cannell – Suma (Traingle Wholefoods)
Bob is an experienced activist with 30 years membership of Suma, several in the Worker Coop Council and on the board of CoopsUK. Bob is a European (CECOP) and World (CICOPA) delegate to worker co-op federations.

He promotes worker ownership in business schools and is a well known source of  advice  for worker co-ops. Bob helped write the Cooperatives UK Worker Cooperative Code of Governance

“I continue to fight for recognition and support for worker co-ops wherever. I recently helped CoopsUK amend the cooperative development training standards to recognise the importance of cooperative working skills in worker co-ops.”

“If re-elected I will continue to ensure CoopsUK and our European and World federations serve us well. I’m optimistic for worker ownership but we need to push the idea and improve our game so we are good examples of democratic enterprise.”

Alison Banton – Dulas Ltd.
It’s taken some time to get to grips with the workings of Co-ops UK and the worker co-op council (on top of the day job) and I would relish another two years in order to follow through on the key strategies we recently identified, especially in our focus on young people. Liaising with the Woodcraft Folk and other worker co ops is truly inspiring stuff.

I’m the Senior Management Accountant/ Company Secretary at Dulas Ltd and we’ve grown into one of the country’s leading renewable energy specialists. The past two years we have undertaken significant changes to our organisation in terms of Corporate Governance, Pay & Reward, Management Structure and even geography- we now have a Scottish Office but have retained 100% (equal) employee ownership and that’s by no means a small achievement. There’s a lot we would love to share and as ever show folk that co-ops rock!

Christopher Robert Tomlinson – Birmingham Bike Foundry
Five years ago I moved to Birmingham and founded a fully mutual housing co-operative with friends called Gung Ho, where I now live. Two years ago I set up Birmingham Bike Foundry –a workers' co-op with four directors. I have been a full time bike mechanic, bike maintenance and cycling trainer since then. Both co-ops are members of Radical Routes.

Within RR I am a core member of publicity group and the Trading Co-ops working group which encourages and supports the establishment of new worker co-ops.

Since I left education I have been working towards developing the co-operative commonweal. I believe that democratic, non-hierarchical employment and ownership of assets has many advantages for co-operative employees and tenants.

I believe in a post-capitalist society run along fairer and saner lines and this is something that I am actively working towards. I believe that this society could be effectively organised by councils of co-operatives.

If your co-operative has not received ballot papers and you wish to vote please contact us. All ballot papers must be received by 15th May 2012

Governance and Management structures in worker co-operatives

The other day a consumer co-operative Board member asked if I could send them some info on what worker co-operative governance and management structures look like.  I always jump at the chance to inform fellow co-operators.  The only problem was I couldn't find what I was looking for. So below is my attempt to set-out some very generalised 'types' of structure.

Most worker co-operatives evolve their own structure and practices as they grow and mature. Also theory and what I've observed won't always reflect the situation in your particular co-op. So please please set me straight and provide examples of how you structure your worker co-op.  Also if you know of good web links please share.

www.cultivate.coop does have some interesting articles and I might replicate this blog there, if people think its good enough.

First a quick look at terms:
Governance: Is about how the views/will of the members (who own the co-op) are represented. How they set their: vision, goals and strategic direction of the co-op.

Management: On the other hand is about the achieving these goals, the detail and managing resources on a day-to-day basis.

"Governance pertains to the vision of an organization, and translation of the vision into policy, management is all about making decisions for implementing the policies.".

Governing Body: Is the group of people who govern the organisation on behalf of the members.  In a Company this is the "Board of Directors".

For a lot lot more info on Legal Structures and Governance have a look at our www.uk.coop/simplyseries 

Below are the types of structure I have seen in worker co-ops in order of scale. I give a brief description followed by a diagram. In the diagrams I attempt to illustrate Governance and Management relationships.

Key


The Collective
When people first come together informally or create a small worker co-operative.  They often start as collectives; Governance and Management can be very difficult to separate, usually all members are at the same level in terms of Governance, formally as Directors (or act as if directors) and operate using a flat management structure (everyone gets an equal say on issues).

Some people may take the 'lead' in a certain areas or activities but this may swap and change depending on the circumstance. I've tended to see this structure from 2-10 people.



Growth
As a worker co-operative grows or becomes more complex/specialised (around 8-15 people, some last even longer) it becomes more and more difficult to keep everyone informed and the level of interaction needed for decision making becomes too high (there is also the issue of newer members not being 'experianced' enough).  At this point two things happen:

Firstly; Governance moves to a system of representation where some members are elected by the membership to represent their views and these representatives are delegated to make certain decisions on their behalf.  Some co-operatives choose Directors on a completely open annual elections basis (at AGM), others staggered elections 3 one year 4 the next etc. Others have certain designated places for certain roles within the organisation (for example the Finance role).

Issues with this approach like any form of representations, can break down if: members don't feel their views are represented or there is a lack of clarity on level/type of decision that has been delegated. Co-operatives UK is currently writing a guide called "Simply Governance" so watch this space for more information.

Secondly; Management changes and this can change in variety of ways:

Self-managing work teams
Usually this means, as co-operatives grows they split into teams; based on areas of the business: Cafe/Shop, Sales/Designers/Printers, Warehouse/Drivers/Buyers etc.

These become self-managing collectives, who then nominate representatives from their own team to the Governing Body


Hierarchy system
Usually this means a general manager is chosen; sometimes elected or specifically recruited/selected by the governing body.  They are accountable to the governing body, and have been given authority to manage the organisation. In larger co-ops there may be multiple levels of management. A term used for this relationship is; "Management is not a status but a function"



Even larger structures
Suma is the largest worker co-operative in the UK with around 130 employees.  They operate on an equal pay basis and don't have a CEO or executive managers in the normal sense of the term.  They also multi-role; which means members work in a least two different "Function Areas" of the Business.

Suma is governed by periodic General Meetings for all the membership, and an elected Board of Directors. On the Management side; the business is divided into "Function Area" Such as: Buyers, Warehouse, Drivers etc.  

These like the above operate relatively autonomously with each area having a "Functional Area Co-ordinator" who are elected to co-ordinate an area and come together with other "FACs" to co-ordinate operations as a whole.



Suma is the largest using this structure, and there are a lot of interesting theories about democratic management and social relationships (how far can you go). One theory is Dunbar's number:

"A theoretical cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships...^[1] This says that numbers larger than the Dunbar number generally require more restrictive rules, laws, and enforced norms to maintain a stable, cohesive group. No precise value has been proposed for Dunbar's number. It has been suggested it lies between 100 and 230, with a commonly used value of 150.[2 "

It might be no co-incidence that Suma has reached this size.  Is there a natural size for a worker co-operative? What should a worker co-operative do it if wishes to retain a democratic management structure but grow beyond 150? One suggestion is for the co-op to divide or create off-shoots, forming "Consortia" Corporate Group Structures of smaller co-operatives that share common approaches, branding and inter-trade with each other.

Mondragon
Some might say the Pinnacle of worker co-operative achievement is Mondragon in Spain. Governance and Management in Mondragon is very different to UK worker co-operatives; for a start it employs 85,066 people! It also has a very standard management hierarchy (although there are maximum pay ratio's and most managers are trained from within).

Mondragon is not like a traditional PLC either and operates more like an Economy in itself.  Mondragon is a type of Consortia mentioned above, where its member co-ops have their own bank, social security, education, research and development services.  All the 250+ businesses are split into Group; Divisions; Units. Each individual company is semi-autonomous and may leave the Mondragon Group (and some have).

Modragon's Governance is also on a representative system with workers voting for Board Members of their individual company, who in turn vote for the next level up

This below diagram illustrates one companies relationship to the overall structure.

Further Reading
Durbar's Number
Difference between Management and Governance
http://www.uk.coop/simplyseries 

From conflict to co-operation

Worker co-operative people are very aware that conflict can be an issue and over time can cause real problems. Conflict shouldn't be avoided, but equally you shouldn't revert to "because I told you to" (even if you can).


I always like posting guest blogs; and here is one from Kate Whittle a co-operative developer of more than 20 years, who has recently written a series of publications for Co-operatives UK called From conflict to co-operation.
--

I was on my way to a meeting I expected to be very challenging a few days ago, and as I got off the train and started walking I noticed my knees were feeling wobbly - and I understood - it was adrenaline - my body was getting ready for fight or flight ... (not really sure if wobbly knees are any use at all for either fighting or fleeing, but you get the picture ..)

So I started thinking what can we do when our physical body is reacting to a real or perceived threat - by flooding our system with adrenaline? How can we find a way to acknowledge the signal that the body is sending us, but at the same time adopt a stance in the confrontation that is going to give us the strength to insist on a negotiated settlement, rather than run away or engage in physical or verbal fighting?

I believe that having a recipe - such as the one that the book Getting to Yes gives us - can help us find that strength, and help us behave in a way that is most likely to produce a satisfactory outcome.

The recipe has 4 ingredients:

1. separate the people from the problem - i.e. build trust, try to help them to see that you are not their enemy, but that you want to find a solution that will satisfy both of you
2. focus on interests, not positions - try to find out why they feel like they do, or want what they say they want. A great but simplistic example shows us what this can mean. A mother separates two little girls who are fighting over an orange. She cuts it in half and gives them half each. However one eats the fruit and throws away the peel, whilst the other throws away the fruit and makes marmalade with the peel. If the mother had asked them what they wanted to do with the orange, she could have given the peel to one child and the fruit to the other, a much more satisfactory outcome!
3. invent options for mutual gain - once you are working together on a solution, and you each understand where the other is coming from, it's much easier to brainstorm potential solutions that will satisfy both parties
4. insist on using objective criteria - it's important to use criteria that are independent of the will of either side, and find a solution based on principle, not pressure or power.

That's why the approach is called Techniques of Principled Negotiation - and this handy little book should be on the shelf of every co-operative or community enterprise. The first third of the book explains these four steps in more detail, with examples. However the rest of the book concentrates on what happens when people won't play - when they are more powerful, or if they use dirty tricks, the techniques are still useful, and will help you get as much as you can out of a difficult situation. 



From Conflict to Co-operation is a series of five cartoon booklets from Co-operatives UK, the first book focuses on dealing with conflict and books 2-5 on preventing conflict. 

• Booklet 1: Conflict – where it comes from and how to deal with it
• Booklet 2: Communication Skills
• Booklet 3: Meetings and Decision Making
• Booklet 4: Organisational Growth and Development
• Booklet 5: Role and responsibilities of the committee

Wider Reading
From conflict to co-operation, Co-operatives UK (free to download)
Getting to Yes Roger Fisher and William Ury Arrow Business Books (buy from Amazon)

Worker Co-operative Council Election Results

Just to show life goes on regardless of Co-operatives Fortnight, we can now declare the Worker Co-operative Election Results!  I would like to Congratulate Bob Cannell and Sion Whellen's for being re-elected to the Council and Alison Banton for joining the Council for the first time.As usual the election was contested and the voting quite close.

WHELLENS, Sion         293         ELECTED
CANNELL, Bob            262         ELECTED
BANTON, Alison Joan   219         ELECTED
BRATCHER, Linda        203                   

I would also like to thank Kate Ormrod (Ecogenie) who stood down this year to concentrate on her worker co-operative; for her time on the Council and also the main Board of Co-operatives UK.  You have given a lot (particularly for braving the Co-operative Performance Committee on behalf of Worker Co-operatives) and will be missed.

The last meeting of the present Council will with at Co-operatives 2010.  If you want to know more about the worker co-operative council or get move involved in Co-operatives UK please contact me.

If you want to no more information on the successful candidates click here.

Worker Co-operative Council Elections 2010

It's that time of the year again, yes your chance (if your a member of Co-operatives UK that is) to vote for your representatives to the Worker Co-operative Council.  This year there are three seats available and four nominees. Ballot papers should have been issued on Monday 26th April and will be finding their way to your Company/Society Secretary. For information on nominees see below:

Nominee: Bob Cannell
Nominating Organisation: Suma Foods
After 30 years in worker co-operatives and 4 on the Worker Co-operative Council, Bob is still enthusiastically promoting and developing democratic management.

He is a Personnel Officer at Suma and assists worker co-operatives across the UK through his ‘other’ co-op, Co-operative Business Consultants (also a Co-operativesUK member). Bob helped write the Co-ops UK Management guide for worker co-operatives, the Worker Code, which he will promote to anyone if given half a chance!

Bob has lots of experience as a Board Member of Co-operativesUK and is the UK representative to CECOP, the European federation for worker co-ops, which experience he shares via his blog www.bobcannell.blogspot.com. Vote for Bob to help the Worker Co-operative Council to help employee owners help themselves.

Nominee: Alison Joan Banton
Nominating Organisation: Dulas Ltd
I am blessed that I’ve spent all my working life (18 – 45!) working within worker owned structures and I wouldn’t work any other way.

In 1983 I helped revive Crewe’s Wholefood Co-op ‘Quickening Pulses’ with my partner Neil. Three years later we retreated to Wales and I joined the Centre for Alternative Technology and stayed for an amazing 10 years leaving to have my daughter Yali and join Dulas Ltd, a small renewable energy company based in the same valley. I’ve been their senior management accountant/company secretary and sometime FD for 13 years now and our small company has grown into one of the country’s leading renewable energy specialists wholly owned by its 70+ workers.

All businesses face challenges, but worker-owned businesses seem to excel at creating even more and I’d relish joining the council and bringing co-ops together to tackle some of these challenges and to let the business world know that co-ops rock!

Nominee: Sion Whellens
Nominating Organisation: Calverts
Sion comes from Calverts, the communications design and printing co-operative. Elected onto the Council in 2005, he sits on the Board of Co-operatives UK as one of our two worker co-op representatives.
Sion founded the Principle Six business referral network. He is Vice-Chair of Co-operatives London and a raised-eyebrow member of the Co-op Party.

He wants to win understanding and respect for worker co-operation from the wider movement and to help Co-operatives UK represent our isolated and underestimated, but important, group of worker co-operatives.
Sion wants to help turn Co-ops UK into a dynamic, respected and outward facing organisation which will campaign effectively for our business model, to support the growth of our individual co-ops and expand our share of the economy. He also wants to help re-arm the wider population with a knowledge that there are alternatives to socially useless, undemocratic, exploitative and ecocidal ‘business as usual’.

Nominee: Linda Bratcher
Nominating Organisation: Total Coverage
I’m proud to be a co-director of Total Coverage, a successful graphic design workers’ cooperative based in Southampton. I’ve been with the co-operative for seven years and we’ve just celebrated our 22nd year in business so I understand the issues associated in managing a co-operative business as well as doing my day-to-day work as a sales account handler.

I’m standing for election to the Worker Co-operative Council hoping that if elected, I’ll be able to ensure issues that matter to employee-owned businesses and workers’ co-operatives are brought to Co-operatives UK board level.

I’m hoping to give fresh ideas and skills to the Council as well as offering my broad range of skills, motivation and enthusiasm. I’m keen to promote and raise the profile of employee owned businesses and workers’co-operatives to the whole co-operative movement and beyond.