News
11/09/2019
The importance of the cooperative model
Ander Etxeberria is the director of the MONDRAGON Corporation Extension. At the MONDRAGON Corporation, they receive 2,000 visits a year to learn about the operation of cooperatives around the world, and Ander emphasized that what is most surprising about international visitors is that "the cooperative way is not known and it is not on the agenda of public authorities".
According to Ander, we understand cooperatives as tools for the improvement of society, mainly through the creation of quality jobs. We are MONDRAGON's work cooperatives; what people members give day to day is their job. The most important issues are decided in the meetings, each one has its own voice, and the difference between the highest and lowest pay is relatively small. ”
Ander also explains what draws the most attention to foreign visitors: “Most of the people who visit us know a little about MONDRAGON. They come from politics, universities, business or journalism and they learned, read or watched a video about it. It is a great surprise to have this experience in a world that is so uncooperative, that it is uncooperative, and not in the agendas of public authorities. ”
Etxeberria also explains the most common doubts of these visitors: “When they arrive, the main question is what they should do to create something similar in their community, region or country. There is also uncertainty about how partnerships work among cooperatives, because managers favor their remuneration lower than in other companies (now a world-leading perspective), at stake meetings.
The future of cooperativism
Ander Etxebarria has an opinion about the future of cooperatives beyond our borders: “Jose Maria Arizmendiarrieta arrived in Arrasate-Mondragon in 1941, but the first company did not open until 1956. That is, while there are years and years of 'sirimiri'; years of activism, especially with young people. Thus, in our cooperative experience, cooperatives have been created from the bottom up. This being so, with the lack of cooperative legislation and culture in many parts of the world, we find no way for our subsidiaries to be cooperative. In this sense, what we are doing is to contribute, through cooperative expansion, to entities seeking to promote the creation of cooperatives in their countries. Thus, cooperatives were created and are emerging through the inspiration of our cooperative experience; we have examples in Holland, Brazil, France, England, the United States, India ... In a world where inequality is growing, a cooperative model is becoming more and more necessary. "
In this regard, does MONDRAGONE maintain the signs of its cooperative identity, despite the passage of time and considering globalization? Etxeberria says: “In MONDRAGON cooperatives, first and foremost, the work is collected, each member has a vote, the difference in remuneration is small and they want to move on from these well-rooted environments. The expressions of this have probably been more evident in the past, where everything was done in this country, but it is still very much the same. This is an indication of actions taken in different areas in our communities, beyond (mainly through Mundukide) or during the rescue operation during the crisis of one of the largest cooperatives.
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