 |
Business | Industries | Finance | Tax |
| Index: > A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |
|
|||||
| First Prev [ 1 2 3 ] Next Last |
The cooperative movement often has links and associations with Green politics (in the US) or with Labour politics (in the UK), and with socially responsible investing.
A housing cooperative is a legal mechanism for ownership of housing where residents either own shares (share capital co-op) or have membership and occupancy rights in a not-for-profit continuing co-operative (non-share capital co-op).
A retailers cooperative is an organization which employs economies of scale on behalf of its members to get discounts from manufacturers and to pool marketing. It is common for locally-owned grocery stores, hardware stores and pharmacies.
A utility cooperative is a public utility that is owned by its customers (an arrangement also known as a consumer cooperative ). In the United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in, many such cooperatives were formed to provide rural electrical and telephone service as part of the New DealAlternate meaning: New Deal (UK The New Deal was President Franklin D. Roosevelt's legislative agenda for rescuing the United States from the Great Depression. It was widely believed that the depression was caused by the inherent instability of the market. See Rural Utilities ServiceThe Rural Utilities Service formerly the Rural Electrification Administration is charged with providing utilities ( electricity, telephone, water, sewer, etc. to rural areas through public-private partnerships. Related Legislation 1944 Rural Electrificati.
A worker cooperative is a cooperative owned and operated by its "worker-owners". There are no outside, or consumer owners, in a worker's cooperative - only the workers own shares of the business. Unions are often unnecessary in worker cooperatives because the workers have direct control over the management and ownership of the business - they are negotiating with themselves. Some worker cooperatives still choose to become members of local unions for particular reasons - the printing industry is one example in which union shops often receive a special market of business (union members). The United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives is the only organization in the U.S. representing worker cooperative interests nationally. There are local networks and federations throughout the U.S. in the San Fransisco Bay area, the Twin Cities, Portland Oregon, and Boston.
There are examples of "hybrid" co-ops in which workers and consumers both have membership in a co-op, but the types of membership are differentiated, sometimes into districts of the cooperative, often each district having a set amount of decision making power and profit distribution. Hybrid co-ops are also referred to as multi-stakeholder cooperatives .
The term cooperative also applies to stores owned by employees and customers. Members vote on major decisions; employees get discounts compared with non-member customers. A well known example is the REIR ecreational E quipment I nc. is a sporting goods and outdoor gear consumer cooperative. Founded in Seattle, Washington in 1938, it is the largest consumer cooperative in the United States, with over 2 million members. s headquarters are in Kent, Washing (Recreational Equipment Incorporated) co-op.
Farmers often maintain marketing cooperatives, some of which are government-sponsored, which promote and may actually distribute specific commodities. Examples include:
The well-known Best Western hotel chain is actually a giant cooperative, although it now prefers to call itself a "nonprofit membership association." It gave up on the "cooperative" label after the courts kept insisting on calling it a franchisor despite its nonprofit status.
Credit unions provide a form of cooperative banking. In North America, the caisse populaire movement started by Alphonse Desjardins in Quebec, Canada pioneered credit unions.Desjardins wanted to bring desperately needed financial protection to working people. In 1900, from his home in Lévis, Quebec, he opened North America's first credit union which began the Mouvement Desjardins.
In California and other states where it is legal, medical marijuana is generally produced by cooperatives.
Credit Unions are also established in the UK. The largest are work based but many are now enlarging out into the community.The Association of British Credit unions, or ABCUL is the largest organisation in the UK representing the majority of Credit Unions.
| Politics | Business | Finance |
 |
 |
 |
|