ILO COOP/SSE Unit holds a meeting with CICOPA on social, worker and industrial cooperatives

At the 112th Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC), the ILO COOP/SSE Unit Manager Simel Esim, Cooperative and Social and Solidarity Economy Development Specialist Rayann Koudaih and SSE Statistics Specialist Nawon Lee held a meeting with Diana Dovgan, the Secretary General of  CICOPA, the international organisation of industrial and service cooperatives, a sector organisation of the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA). The meeting focused on ongoing efforts and future strategies to promote worker cooperatives particularly in the care sector.

One of the key topics discussed was the effort to reactivate the spirit of worker self-managed initiatives through workers’ buyouts. Slovenia was mentioned as an example with new legislation designed to facilitate these buyouts. Some countries in Eastern Europe are rediscovering the necessity for joint action and for presenting cooperatives as an economic and social model for creating economies of scale. Showcasing good practices from Western Europe could foster greater buy-in of the cooperative model in the region.

The need to update and rebrand cooperatives to include youth, technology, freelance, and platform cooperatives was highlighted during the discussion. This modernization is crucial to ensure the relevance and appeal of cooperatives in new economic landscapes, it was noted by both parties. The complexity of the care sector necessitates contextualized approaches, which is why the ILO has launched an initiative on provision of care through cooperatives and the wider social and solidarity economy. As part of this initiative the ILO is conducting assessments, specifically in Zimbabwe, Colombia, the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and Lebanon. Current legal frameworks are often not conducive to the establishment and growth of cooperatives in the care sector, underscoring the need for policy reform and working with other community-based, multistakeholder models that are based on values and principles of the social and solidarity economy as outlined in the ILC resolution concerning decent work and the social and solidarity economy.

Existing cooperatives are setting up care services, with notable examples such as care cooperatives emerging from the construction sector in Kerala, India. CICOPA promotes two models: worker-owned care cooperatives and multi-stakeholder care cooperatives, with successful examples like women-managed home care services in France. Strengthening the connection between the International Domestic workers Federation (IDWF) and Latin American worker cooperatives was also discussed, particularly as the care sector grows in countries like Argentina, Colombia, and Uruguay.

CICOPA expressed interest in being involved in ILO care cooperative initiatives through participation in validation workshops in Colombia and Zimbabwe, and possible joint activities including webinars, information exchange, and working with common partners to share good practices on national initiatives in provision of care through cooperatives. CICOPA also aims to reinforce its relationship with workers organizations, with the support of the ILO by connecting domestic workers and their unions to cooperative setups similar to the initiative by NUDE through SWCC in Trinidad and Tobago. 

The meeting concluded with an agreement on the need to include care in the upcoming 2024 ICA Global Cooperative Conference and General Assembly to be held in New Delhi, India.