OURbiz

Senator Sanders Preparing Bill to Establish Bank for Employee Ownership

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders [I-VT]  is completing a bill he plans to introduce to the U.S. Senate to establish the U.S. Employee Ownership Bank.

Sanders, long an advocate of worker cooperatives and Employee Stock Ownership Plans, expects to hold public hearings on his legislation soon. As mayor of Burlington, VT, Sanders established the nation’s first department in a city government to provide broad assistance to the formation of worker cooperatives. 

Later, as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, his proposed to establish the Vermont Center for Employee Ownership with funding for three years.  This center was a trial to determine the impact a statewide technical assistance program could have on keeping or adding jobs in Vermont, and has been refunded.

Organizers of the 4th Biennial Conference of the Eastern Conference of the U.S. Federation in Asheville, NC, July 20-22 have invited one of the senator’s staff members to explain the bill’s details during the Conference. A summary of the legislation to be proposed is summarized section by section below. - Frank T. Adams

Download us_emp. Own. Bank Act.doc

**POR FAVOR FIJAR EN SU LUGAR DE TRABAJO**

31/3/07
¡Buscamos miembros para la junta directiva de la federación de cooperativas de trabajadores de los EEUU!

La nueva junta directiva de la federación de cooperativas de trabajadores de los EEUU ya está empezando a trabajar, y uno de sus primeros quehaceres es aumentar su número de participantes en la junta directiva.  Ahora solo tenemos 5 miembros en la junta directiva, lo mínimo requerido por nuestros estatuos provisionales.  Esperamos aumentar la junta a por lo menos 7 miembros-,  o al menos reclutar algunas personas en el caso de que un miembro tenga que salir de la junta directiva.
Entonces, estamos intentando hablar con la membresia otra vez y estamos haciendo algunos reclutamientos específicos.   Despúes la membresia podrá votar por correo electrónico por los candidatos que salgan de esta ronda.  Es inortodoxo, sí, pero la junta directiva piensa que el tener una junta directiva más amplia es tan importante que están intentando por segunda vez reclutar más miembros.

Entonces…..¿Le gustaría servir en la junta directiva en el próximo año? ¿O ser un suplente?
¿SI?, ¿QUIERE?
¡QUE BUENO!  Mande su nombre y unas frases describiendose a sí mismo y su interés en el trabajo antes del 15 de abril.
ALGUNA INFORMACION ACERCA DEL IMPORTANTE TRABAJO QUE LOS MIEMBROS DE LA JUNTA DIRECTIVA HACEN.
Tiempo de servicio:  un año

Responsabilidades básicas:
- Participar cada mes en una reunión de la junta directiva (por teléfono)
- compromiso de 2 horas cada semana para hacer trabajo por la junta directiva o en su grupo de trabajo
- mantenerse en comunicación con otros miembros de la junta directiva y personal
- asistir la conferencia nacional en 2008.
(Puede conseguir una descripción más amplia si asi lo solicita)

Beneficios:
- Ayudar a formar el movimiento de cooperativas de trabajadores en este momento importante en su crecimiento
- Conocer a trabadores de cooperativas de trabajadores de muchos lugares de este país y del mundo
- Posibilidad de viajes nacionales e internacionales

Que estamos hacienda ahora mismo:
- Proyecto de biblioteca de documentos sobre cooperativas
- Directorio de cooperativas de trabajadores
- Comienzos de una propuesta para un red de asistencia técnica
- Investigación sobre seguro de salud y pensiones para las cooperativas de trabajadores
- Planeación de la próxima conferencia nacional de cooperativas de trabajadores

Contacte a Melissa a info@usworker.coop o al 415-379-9201 si está interesado o quiere recomendar a otra persona que este interesado (a).  ¡Gracias!  Melissa

US FEDERATION SEEKS BOARD MEMBERS

Here's a notice we have received the following notice from the US Federation of Worker Co-ops. Most people have already been notified by email. Just in case you missed it.....

We are seeking board members for US Federation of Worker Co-ops! 

The new board of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives is getting down to work, and one of their first tasks is to increase their numbers. Right now, we have only 5 board members, the minimum required by our provisional bylaws. We hope to bring it up to at least 7 - or, at the very minimum, to recruit some willing alternates in case a board member has to step down. 

So we're putting out another call to the membership and doing some targeted nominations recruitment. Then we'll have a membership vote by email on any candidates that emerge in this round. It's unorthodox, yes, but the board feels that having a full board is important enough to put out a second call. 

So....want to volunteer to serve on the Board of Directors for the next year? Or to be an alternate?

YES, YOU DO?  *mad love in your direction* 

GREAT! Send in your name and a couple sentences about yourself and your interest in the work by April 15.

SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE IMPORTANT AND REWARDING WORK THE BOARD DOES 
Term of Service: 
one year 

Basic Duties: 
- Attend monthly 2-hour board meeting (conference call) 
- 2 hour/week commitment to doing board and committee work 
- Stay in regular communication with board and staff 
- Attend national conference in 2008 
(Full job description available upon request) 

Benefits: 
- Help build the worker co-op movement at an exciting point in its growth 
- Meet worker co-opers from all over the country and the world 
- Possibility for national and international travel 
  
What we're working on right now: 
- Co-op Document Library Project 
- Data Commons/Directory of Worker Co-ops 
- Beginning proposal for a peer technical assistance network 
- Research on health and pension benefits for worker co-ops 
- Planning next national worker co-op conference 

Contact Melissa at info@usworker.coop  or 415-379-9201 if you're interested or want to suggest someone who might be. 


USFWC Conference Agenda

The United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives meets in New York City October 13 to 15. Here a downloadable program announcement on the details of the conference.

VERMONT EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP CONFERENCE: NEXT MONTH

The fourth annual Vermont Employee Ownership Conference will be held on June 6, 2006 at the Wyndham Hotel in Burlington. This year's conference will feature a keynote address entitled "Toward a Real Ownership Society" by Gar Alperovitz, Professor at the University of Maryland and author of America Beyond Capitalism.

Ten workshops will follow on various aspects of employee ownership, with a introductory-level track, a track on employee participation, and sessions on technical issues for companies that are already employee-owned. Two sessions on worker cooperatives will be offered, featuring Jim Megson (long-time co-op developer with the ICA Group), Peter Pitegoff (Dean of the University of Maine School of Law and author of model bylaws for worker co-ops), and John Abrams (founder of South Mountain Company and author of The Company We Keep). A reception celebrating the 5th anniversary of the Vermont Employee Ownership Center will follow.

The conference fee is $100 for one person, $175 for two; $75 and $125 respectively if registration and payment are received by May 30. Every third person from the same company is free. For a conference brochure, cotact the Center.

PRESIDENTIAL TAX PANEL WOULD REPEAL OWNERSHIP LAW

President Bush alludes to “an ownership society†frequently in speeches, supposedly encouraging more people to own businesses or their homes, even including the phrase in his second inaugural address.

Yet he has never specified what the vague phrase means beyond business or home ownership.  Nor has he proposed legislation to put before Congress that would flesh out his idea.

However, the President’s Advisory Panel on Tax Reform has proposed to do away with Employee Stock Ownership Plans, or all defined contribution plans, a suggestion that could curb the growth of worker-owned cooperatives.

The ESOP Association, a national trade association, declared the proposal is “…a bizarre and completely surprising move…†adding, “…The Association and its members finds such a recommendation shocking, and contra to the Administration’s previous posture towards employee ownership.â€

For over 30 years, ESOP legislation crafted by Senator Russell Long in the 1980s, allows employees to buy out companies or corporate divisions, often saving thousands of jobs.

Subsequent amendments to Senator Russell’s original legislation - the 1040 Rollover provision, for instance - allows sole proprietors, or closely held corporations, to sell their firms to employees, either as part of a succession plan, or the means “to pass something along to my family.â€

The sale to employees is treated as a non-taxable event provided the owner invests the capital gains in U.S. registered securities within 12 months.  The owner may, or may not, continue as the corporate leader. Then, after 3 years, she or he may give the investment corpus to heirs or others, also as a non-taxable event. 

Thus, jobs and wealth stay at home.

While ESOPs have made owners of employees in over 11,000 firms, the 1040 Rollover provision is being used chiefly to create cooperative corporations, a less costly means to accomplish the same ownership ends, but usually in smaller firms.

The larger ESOPs have dozens of legal and financial advisors, as well as an independent information source, the National Center for Employee Ownership, and the ESOP Association, a trade association. 

While the smaller cooperative corporations have fewer advisory firms, they are federating under the banner of the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives, and formed as businesses, for the most part, under ESOP law.

ESOP Association members spoke with officials of the Department of Treasury.  They learned the Treasury Department has made no decision to recommend that President Bush propose that defined benefit plans be ended.  Yet, spokesman said, “The ESOP community’s voice has not been heard at Treasury.

If President Bush is able to repeal ESOP law, the growth ownership and equity through business ownership may come to an abrupt halt.

In North Carolina, ownership activists wrote former U.S. Senator John Edwards, who now heads the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity based at the University of North Carolina, urging him to encourage states to enact defined benefit plans allowing the formation of worker owned firms to continue.

A similar effort was started in the 1980s by the Industrial Cooperative Association, now the ICA Group in Brookline, MA, and was funded by the Ford Foundation.  ICA staff members Dr. David Ellerman, now a Visiting Scholar at the University of California/Riverside, along with Peter Pitigoff, Esq., now Dean of the University of Maine School of Law, drafted model state legislation that a small number of state legislatures adopted.  The foundation’s decision not to continue the funding stopped the ICA endeavor.

Edwards was encouraged to see for himelf what can happen when both ownership advocacy, appropriate legislation, and political support is state-based and state-focused.  One example pointed out to Edwards is the Ohio Employee Ownership Center founded by John Logan.  Another is the Vermont Employee Ownership Center.

He was asked to help replicate these two centers throughout the U.S. and in formulating other ways to expand the nascent “ownership society†growing in across the nation.

To contact the ESOP Association for more information go to  their website

To contact Edwards, write to him at-
John Edwards, Esq.
Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity,
UNC School of Law,
100 Ridge Road,
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3380
Or go to the Center's website 

CENTER FOR POPULAR ECONOMICS SUMMER INSTITIUTE

The Center for Popular Economics has announced Its 2006 Summer Institute to be held in Amherst, MA, from July 23 to 29, 2006. This year the Institute includes a special track, “Alternative Economic Policies and Practicesâ€, that will be of interest to the worker co-op community. Download their program announcement for details

or email the conference directly at programs@populareconomics.org

ALERT: FEDERATION MEETS IN OCTOBER, 2006

The next conference and general meeting of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives will be held on October 13-15 in New York City. Save the date! For on-going updates and details of the conference, check with the Federation’s website at here.

If your organization maintains a website, the Federation requests that you post this announcement to your websites, event calendars, and relevant lists

WESTERN CONFERENCE CONFRONTS CHANGE

By Andrew McLeod

The Western Worker Cooperative Conference returned to Breitenbush Hot Springs October 9-12, after taking a year off. Since the last gathering in 2003, the landscape has changed markedly, and that change continues. 
 


Some of this change has been in the conference organizing: In the past two years, there has been more than 50% turnover among elected board members. And this past spring, the conference also had staff turnover, as well; Kirsten Marshall moved on to other things after serving for nearly four years as conference lead staff. 
 


There has also been much change in the larger movement, in the form of organizing among worker cooperatives. The national planning board that the WWCC helped to create successfully held a national conference in Minneapolis, which led to the creation of the United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives; the board of this new organization has been designing membership systems and planning a second national conference for 2006. And on the local level in the western U.S., the past year has seen regional conferences held in Portland and San Francisco. Meanwhile, the Network of Bay Area Worker Cooperatives (NoBAWC) is joined on the scene by the Portland Alliance of Worker Collectives, and South Sound Cooperatives (currently forming in Olympia, Washington).

To address this change, the conference’s keynote panel featured a look at these organizations, and how they are connecting many cooperatives into a cohesive movement that is a source of mutual support and an example to society at large.

This year’s WWCC had 93 participants, which is a bit smaller than 2003. On the one hand, the smaller crowd relieved some of the space pressure felt during the last conference - attended by 119 participants. But on the other hand, it will be important to look at why demand has dropped off, and take steps to counter this trend.

The drop in attendance is probably a combination of factors, but prominent among them is that the WWCC is no longer the only conference on the West Coast. The other conferences have happened in urban areas, which are easier to reach and may be more appealing to a wider variety of cooperators. Although the location at an idyllic resort is frequently cited as one of the best features of the conference, the board is also aware of the drawbacks of the setting. It will be evaluating a possible move to a more accessible location that is comfortable to a wider range of participants.


Another issue is that there were a significant number of people who wanted to come, but couldn’t afford it. And this year, our scholarship fund was overwhelmed by the demand. While the $3350 in scholarships was roughly consistent with recent years’ supply and demand, the conference received more than double that in requests. And this year’s scholarship auction - used to replenish the fund – dropped along with attendance. So additional fundraising seems to be a priority.

The 2005-2007 WWCC board will have seven elected members, with four runners-up serving as alternates in the event of vacancies. Conference participants also approved proposals affecting term lengths and how vacancies are filled. All passed by wide margins.

There has been a lot of change in the conference and in the worker co-op movement as a whole: We successfully held our first national conference, created a federation planning board, and gave it directions for building the organization. This is the first time that we’ve had a national body of our own, and it will help us to work with the international worker cooperative movement, as well as provide us with a solid footing for collaboration with other segments of the U.S. cooperative movement.

The next two years should be even more eventful than the last two, and the Western Worker Cooperative Conference must continue to adapt.

Andrew McLeod is the staff organizer for the Western Worker Cooperative Conference, and is on the staff of the Northwest Cooperative Development Center. He lives in Olympia, Washington.

Argentinean Worker Owners Meet Mexican Poultry Workers in East Tennessee

The Fire the Boss! Tour came to Morristown on November 17, 2005. The group was sponsored by the Southern Appalachian Center for Cooperative Ownership (SACCO) and hosted by Chris Baker, professor of Sociology at Walters State Community College, and Tommy Smith, Cultural Activist. The tour also was able to make a short stop at the Highlander Research and Education Center on November 18 meeting with staff member Charlie Biggs.

The group consisted of three worker activists from Argentina: Carlos Alberta Barra from the Unemployed Workers Union (MTD); Eulalia Alicia Perez from the United Cooperate of Shoe Makers; and Elsa Montero from Clinica Fenix.

Matt Weinstein, from Worcester, MA, Global Action Network, guided the North American tour.  The group visited Harvard, Clark, Vassar, Brown, Rutgers, Cornell, UNC-Chapel Hill, and other universities along with a number of worker activist organizations.   

The evening meeting included presentations on the Argentinean economy and the take over of companies by workers unions following the collapse of the country’s economy after 2001.  The workers discussed the conditions of communities after 2001, including the political economy surrounding worker cooperatives and worker ownership. Elsa Montero gave a presentation on the worker takeover of the Clinica Fenix. She presented pictures and descriptions of the center discussing the struggles faced by workers and the community.

The tour was given an overview of area Latino poultry workers recent organizing victory with the Commercial Food Workers Union at Koch industries. Earlier this year, after a vigorously contested organizing drive, the poultry workers voted overwhelmingly to become union members, in no small part because of working conditions.

Kate Davies, the regional Latino newspaper reporter for Mundo Hispano, interviewed tour members and along with Baker and Smith provided an overview of the political economy of Latino workers and demographic issues in the east Tennessee valley. The presentation also discussed the Newport Diversity Festival, the Telemon Headstart, and the Morristown International School.

The tour was housed at Smith’s residence that included communal meals and music.

Chris Baker

GOOGLE STARTS A FOUNDATION

We have been tracking an early hint that Google might be considering organizing a foundation to make a "world impact by ambitiously applying innovation and significant resources to the largest of the world’s problems." Now their website (click here for  Google.org) has appeared. Their focus seems to be quite global, but there is some hint that they may have an interest in movements that have the potential for global impact. The optimistic among us think that ownership organizations, particularly worker cooperatives, have the potential for transforming the world of work. Now the job will be to persuade Google!

SACCO WEBSITE IS IN FOR REPAIRS

The Southern Appalachian Center for Cooperative Ownership (SACCO), sponsor of this weblog, announces that its website , including the national co-op registry, will go off line on November 1st. The site will be re-constructed and returned to on-line status as soon as possible.

This weblog will continue to be published on about a two-week schedule.         

100 ATTEND THIRD EASTERN CONFERENCE FOR WORKPLACE DEMOCRACY

Jessica Gordon Nembhard of GEO newsletter and the University of Maryland has filed this report on the the recent Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy, a biennial meeting of worker-owned organizations in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states:

"2005 was a record breaking year for the third annual meeting of worker cooperatives and work-owned companies and their supporters in Manchester, NH on the campus of Southern New Hampshire University, hosted by SNHU's School of Community Economic Development. The Eastern Conference for Workplace Democracy (ECWD) had more worker-owned business sponsors than ever before, more workshops offered than ever before and more worker-owners nominated and elected to its board, The Eastern Coordinating Council (ECC).

Participants came from as far South as The Federation of Southern Cooperatives in Epes, Alabama and Little Grill Restaurant in Harrisonburg, Virginia to as far North as Rising Tide Cooperatives in Atlantic Canada and the Canadian Federation of Worker Cooperatives. Ontario branch. The bulk of the participants were from New England, with additional representation from along the Eastern Seaboard."

Herranen, Ninth Ward Conspiracy Play Music of the IWW

June just past, women and men around the world organized picnics, labor rallies and marches, listened to lecturers in meeting halls to mark the 100th anniversary of the Industrial Workers of the World, or Wobblies. This brief history of the IWW sums up well the union's meteoric rise, and explains why many of today's working people have never heard the words, Fellow Worker.

Many worker owners in today's cooperatives know the words, and the history, particularly those in worker-owned print shops dotted across the nation. Knoxville, TN Wobblies, on the evening of July 16, gathered at the Laurel Theater to hear Jack Herranen and the Ninth Ward Conspiracy celebrate the anniversary with a program of music written by legendary Wobbly musicians Joe Hill and T-Bone Slim. A CD of these songs is avaialable through your local music stores.

The Eastern Conference

The U.S. Federation's oldest regional organization is holding a 30-workshop gathering July 15, 16 and 17 at The School of Community Economic Development at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, New Hampshire.

William Greider, author of the bestseller, The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy, will be keynote speaker on Satuday evening. Over 40 presenters will lead small workshops which participants self-select.

For more information email the conference or visit its website. 

Update: U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives

Owners of cooperatives who organized the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives in May 2004, had this mission in mind

The United States Federation envisions a democratic society in which workers are in control of the management, governance and ownership of their places of work. This vision includes the values of empowerment, equity, dignity and respect for all workers without discrimination. Workplaces will offer long-term, stable jobs, a living wage and the opportunity for ownership for every worker.

A year later, the Federation has an executive director and nine Board members who are busy on several fronts:

• Melissa Hoover of San Francisco is the Federation's first executive Director. Melissa won praise from the Bay Area owners for her administrative skills, thoroughness and self direction. Email Melissa. For more on Melissa Hoover, click on the "continue reading the article" link below.
• Nine members of the Federation's board of directors serve on working committees that are preparing proposals for a formal legal structure, member services, communications etc. to be presented for discussion and debate at the Federation's next national meeting.
• Board members are: Brahm Amadi, People's Co-op. Oakland. CA; Lori Burge, People's Co-op, Portland, OR; Bob Cahill, Eight Point Productions, Minneapolis, MN; Omar Freilla, Green Worker Cooperative, Bronx, NY; Ajowa Nzinga Ifateyo, GEO Newsletter, Washington, DC; Kirsten Marshall, Rainbow Grocery Co-op, San Francisco, CA; Ajamu Nangwaya, Epes. AL; Tom Pierson, Seward Cafe, Minneapolis, MN; and Frank T. Adams, SACCO, Inc., Asheville, NC.

No date has been set for the Federation's next convention.

The Federation is the result of years of effort among worker-owners who informally organized themselves in regions throughout the United States. Only worker-owners in the South remain without an informal regional conference. However, several Southern Cooperatives directly affiliate with the Federation. Examine the Federation's website.