Worker Cooperatives: Sharing Makes a Lot Out of Next to Nothing

Saturday, March 10, 2012

2:00-4:00 PM

Worker Cooperatives: Sharing Makes a Lot Out of Next to Nothing

Will your next job be in a cooperative? Watch a video about a cooperative success story (Mondragon) and hear from Joe Marraffino, Organizer, Democracy at Work Network about startups close to home.

at the Workers' Center, upstairs at 115 The Commons (Martin Luther King Street), Ithaca above the Autumn Leaves Bookstore.

Sponsors: Education Committee of Occupy Ithaca, Ithaca DSA, Sustainable Tompkins

Contact: Theresa Alt talt@igc.org, 607-273-3009, cell 607-280-7649

Mondragon: Cooperative Success

Carl Davidson of Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism tells the story of the Mondragon Cooperatives. They began small in the poverty of the Basque Country of Spain after World War II. The workers own them and elect their directors. Now they are a huge complex of businesses doing nearly 14 billion euros in sales but still democratically run. Recorded March 19, 2011 at Left Forum.

Mondragon Cooperatives Around the World

Corl Davidson of CCDS tells how the Mondragon Cooperatives are now establishing offshoots on other continents. The worker ownership concept is taking root in the United States too. Recorded March 19, 2011 at Left Forum.

Mondragon vs. US Poverty

Carl Davidson of CCDS tells how Mondragon has inspired worker cooperatives in the United States too. The Basque cooperatives began among an impoverished, oppressed people, and those conditions exist in the US too. Recorded March 19, 2011 at Left Forum.

Cuba: Evolution of a Revolution

Tamara Lee tells Charles Dunaway about Cuba, where she has been doing research. Cuba wants to convert 1.2 million state workers to private or self-employment, but under Cuban law workers have to discuss such changes first. There's an active debate, but nobody wants capitalism.

Health Care For All In Vermont

Two members of the Vermont Workers Center tell us about their successful effort to make health care a human right in Vermont and discuss the next steps on the road to health care for all.

Lifton Q&A

Barbara Lifton, Ithaca's representative in the New York State Assembly, answers questions from citizens during a town hall meeting held on February 22, 2011