[p2p-research] Richmond’s Green Party Mayor Signs ‘Letter of Intent’ with Spain’s Mondragon Coops

[Michel Bauwens]

Sent to you by Kevin Carson via Google Reader: Richmond’s Green Party
Mayor Signs ‘Letter of Intent’ with Spain’s Mondragon Coops via
SolidarityEconomy.net by Editors on 9/23/10
The Mondragon Cooperative Experience: A Model for Richmond, California?

By Gayle Mclaughlin


Imagine a world where businesses derive their power from the people who
work there and capital is used as a tool to serve the people, instead
of the other way around, as is the case with conventional corporations.
A world of true workplace democracy, where each worker has an equal say
in how the business is run. A world where workers pool and leverage
their resources to start new businesses and create new jobs. A world
where top managers earn no more than 6-7 times the salary of the lowest
paid workers and everyone has a secure and decent standard of living. A
world where education, training and innovation are abundant. A world
without lay-offs.


I had the opportunity to immerse myself in just such a world last week
in the Basque region of Spain, where I attended an intensive five-day
seminar at the Mondragon Cooperative Corporation, along with 25 worker
cooperative enthusiasts and practitioners from all over the US and
Korea. The first Mondragon cooperative started 56 years ago with a few
people under the visionary guidance of Jose Maria Arizmendiarrieta, and
it has grown into an extensive network of 120 industrial, financial,
retail and education cooperatives with over 16 billion euros in sales
and employing about 100,000 people.




There is a great deal of collaborative and cooperative spirit in
Richmond, and numerous residents and City staff have indicated to me
their interest in exploring the possibility of starting worker-owned
cooperatives here. Given the need to think outside the box in
addressing our high unemployment rate, Richmond could provide fertile
ground for implementing this model of job creation along with other
strategies.
At the conclusion of the seminar, Mondragon's Director of Cooperative
Dissemination, Mikel Lezamiz, and I signed a letter of intent and
endorsement (cut and pasted below) to pave the way for initiating
conversations with stakeholders in Richmond and beyond. I want to share
with you what I learned and also hear your ideas.
To this end I would like to invite all who are interested to a
presentation and discussion on Mondragon and the potential for worker
cooperatives in Richmond. The same presentation will be given on two
dates to accommodate diverse schedules (call 620-6502 for more info):


Tuesday, October 12, 7:00-9:00 pm in the Whittlesey Room of the
Richmond Library

Thursday, October 14, 1:00-3:00 pm in the Multi-Use Room, 440 Civic
Center Plaza

Sincerely,
Gayle McLaughlin
Mayor, City of Richmond

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
September 17, 2010 Letter of Intent and Endorsement

Mayor Gayle McLaughlin of Richmond, California attended a 5-day seminar
in Mondragon, Spain in September 2010 to learn about the Mondragon
Cooperative Corporation's model of worker-owned cooperatives as a
strategy for worker empowerment-based economic development and job
creation. Based on this seminar and the considerations listed below, a
commitment to explore possibilities for future collaboration emerged.
· The Mondragon worker-owned cooperatives in manufacturing, retail,
financial services and education have flourished for over 50 years in
the Basque region of Spain, bringing prosperity and social equity to a
region that had been stricken by high rates of poverty and unemployment.
· Mondragon collaborated with non-profits, foundations, and city
officials in Cleveland, Ohio to assist in the successful 2008 launch of
the Evergreen Cooperative Initiative aimed at stabilizing and
revitalizing low income neighborhoods in Cleveland.
· Mondragon and the United Steelworkers signed an agreement in 2009 to
collaborate in the United States/Canadian marketplace by adapting
collective bargaining principles to the Mondragon cooperative model and
worker ownership principles.
· Mondragon provided inspiration to community organizers in recently
establishing Austin Polytechnic High School in Chicago, which is
designed to prepare students in low-income neighborhoods to start
cooperative high tech manufacturing enterprises along the Mondragon
model after graduating.
· Richmond, California's commitment to promoting financial health,
social well-being, education and training, and innovation (particularly
in the green business sector) corresponds to the four pillars on which
Mondragon's cooperatives are built.
· Formation of worker-owned cooperatives could be the next logical
step, building on existing job training programs, to address persistent
problems of poverty and unemployment in Richmond.
Mayor Gayle McLaughlin of Richmond, California and Mikel Lezamiz,
Director of Cooperative Dissemination of Mondragon Cooperative
Corporation, affirm the shared values of cooperation, participation,
social responsibility and innovation as well as the common goal of
creating sustainable jobs that support stronger communities and
sustainable environmental practices.
Mikel Lezamiz furthermore endorses Mayor McLaughlin's intent to explore
how the Mondragon model of worker-owned cooperatives can be applied in
Richmond, California and to initiate conversations and facilitate
collaboration among potential worker owners, labor unions, community
organizations, local funders and City officials in Richmond.


Gayle McLaughlin, Mayor Mkel Lezamiz, Director of Cooperative
Dissemination
City of Richmond, California Mondragon Cooperative Corporation

Contact Information
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
phone: (510) 237-1456
email: Gayle at MayorGayle.net
website: www.MayorGayle.net
Address: Gayle McLaughlin for Mayor 2010
PO Box 5284
Richmond, CA 94805

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