For
most people "CoOp" brings
to mind a local health
food store which is owned
and run by its members.
This is only one example
of a cooperative. Cooperatives
- community or employee
owned businesses or groups
- can be formed for businesses
of any kind, including
cooperative banks (called
credit unions), insurance
and health care companies,
day care, agricultural
distribution and housing
co-ops. Cooperatives are
much more popular than
most people realize --
almost a third of American
farmers' products are
marketed through cooperatives,
half of the electricity
in rural areas comes from
rural electric cooperatives
and more than 70 million
Americans use credit unions!
As
mistrust of corporations
grows in America, the
cooperative core values
of honesty, openness,
democracy, social responsibility,
and putting people before
profits, is attracting
more to consider the CoOp
model. More than half
a million American workers
have chosen to take control
of their lives and economic
choices by being part
of employee-owned businesses.
Welch's, Sunkist, ACE
Hardware and the Associated
Press are just some of
the many employee-owned
companies.
The
cooperative movement is
growing throughout the
world. The International
Cooperative Alliance (ICA)
was formed in 1895 - today
it has more than 200 participating
organizations with over
800 million members in
nearly 100 countries!
In 1994, the ICA and International
Labor Organization (ILO)
launched a global co-operative
campaign against poverty,
Co-operating Out Of Poverty,
urging the worldwide cooperative
movement to work together
to fight poverty by helping
the poor to form cooperatives.
CoOp
Day has been celebrated
on the first Saturday
in July since 1927 to
help promote the cooperative
movement and the concept
of cooperatives as an
important community-building
and economic model. Since
1930, October has been
observed in America as
National Co-Op Month to
further promote the importance
of cooperatives.
Links
About
International Day of Cooperatives
International
Cooperative Information
Center
UN
Days & Years Meditation
Initiative
What
is the UN International
Day of Co-operatives?
Do
Your Bit
COPAC
and the International
Day of Cooperatives
Co-op
Month
Co-OpMonth.org
Quentin
Burdick Center's Co-Op
Month site
CoOps
What's
a Coop?
What
is a Cooperative?
International
Co-operative Alliance
Cooperatives
in the ILO
COPAC
(Committee for the Promotion
and Advancement of Cooperatives)
The
Worker-Ownership Institute
GET
INVOLVED
Promote
Co-operate Out Of Poverty
Campaign
Ideas
for Celebrating Co-op
Month
Find
a CoOp near you
CoOp
Quotes
