Cooperatives have a significant impact on citizen-oriented life-scale social advancement, especially in agrarian-based rural economy focusing on labour, construction, banking, schooling etc. The objects of the Cooperative shall be promoting the economic interests of the labourers of the Cooperative; to find suitable and profitable employment for them by obtaining contracts with the government, public and private bodies, or individuals, and by executing those contracts through or with the help of the members; and to encourage thrift, self-help, and cooperation among the members. It can pioneer in local-level alternative production, epitomising qualities of the solidarity economy such as democracy, equity, solidarity, reciprocity, and integrative networks. To do this, labour cooperatives must be pioneered as democratic workplace organisations with egalitarian redistribution, even in the context of a highly competitive sector dominated by large, profit-seeking contractors. In major construction works, an organizer, middlemen or contractor is inevitable. Labour Cooperatives are striving to substitute the intermediary profit-seeking contractors for executing public works. They aspire to provide more secure and satisfying work with better wages to its members. But the present contract system has degenerated and has become a whirlpool of corruption.
One of the best labour welfare centric approaches of the Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society (ULCCS) Ltd. makes it unique in the world and marks it as an organization “of the workers, by the workers and for the workers”. The directors are the managers of the cooperative, which means that management is elected by the workers – in sharp contrast to capitalist corporations, where managers are appointed by an unelected leadership. The construction sites are led by site leaders chosen from among the workers, in a process through which only workers with proven managerial ability and those who enjoy widespread respect and trust are selected. Democratic processes are maintained through regular communication within the cooperative. Site leaders attend daily meetings with the board of directors. All site leaders, board members and technical staff including the highly skilled engineers of ULCCS attend weekly meetings while all worker-members participate in monthly meetings where new developments are reported and members can raise criticisms. Full financial statements are discussed at the annual general meetings. While all these meetings involve time and energy, it also produces a sense of collective ownership, solidarity, and common mission, enhancing productivity.
ULCCS stands out as a global cooperative identity for workers’ cooperatives by ensuring strict coordination and efficient production without the typical capitalist techniques of discipline and incentives and has developed a labour process that is both efficient and participatory.
Views expressed by the author, Mr. Remeshan Palery, Chairperson, ULCCS Ltd. are his own.
