10 Facts About Workers' cooperative

1.

Philosophy that underpinned the Workers' cooperative movement stemmed from the socialist writings of thinkers including Robert Owen and Charles Fourier.

FactSnippet No. 2,200,306
2.

Robert Owen, considered by many as the father of the Workers' cooperative movement, made his fortune in the cotton trade but believed in putting his workers in a good environment with access to education for themselves and their children.

FactSnippet No. 2,200,307
3.

Workers' cooperative tried to form such communities in Orbiston in Scotland and in New Harmony, Indiana in the United States of America, but both communities failed.

FactSnippet No. 2,200,308
4.

Workers' cooperative believed in starting small and realized that the working classes would need to set up co-operatives for themselves, so he saw his role as one of instruction.

FactSnippet No. 2,200,309
5.

Workers' cooperative founded a monthly periodical called The Co-operator, the first edition of which appeared on 1 May 1828.

FactSnippet No. 2,200,310
6.

In Britain, this type of Workers' cooperative was traditionally known as a producer Workers' cooperative; and while it was overshadowed by the consumer and agricultural types, it made up a small section of its own within the national apex body, the Cooperative Union.

FactSnippet No. 2,200,311
7.

Unlike with conventional firms, ownership and decision-making power of a worker Workers' cooperative should be vested solely with the worker-owners and ultimate authority rests with the worker-owners as a whole.

FactSnippet No. 2,200,312
8.

Workers' cooperative co-operatives have often been seen as an alternative or "third way" to the domination of labor by either capital or the state.

FactSnippet No. 2,200,313
9.

Workers' cooperative associations were legalized in 1848 and again in 1864.

FactSnippet No. 2,200,314
10.

Freedom Quilting Bee was a notable Workers' cooperative founded in Alabama during the midst of the Civil Rights movement, and was instrumental in helping underprivileged black workers in the area escape poverty, amassing enough success to fill orders for major department stores such as Sears while helping to spark contemporary interest in quilting.

FactSnippet No. 2,200,315