Mondragón Cooperative Corporation (MCC) is a group of manufacturing and retail companies based in the This article is about the traditional Basque domain. For the Spanish autonomous community, see Basque Country (autonomous community). The Basque Country (Euskal Herria in Basque) straddles the western Pyrenees mountains that define the border between France and Spain, extending down to the coast of the Bay of Biscay. It corresponds... Basque Country and extended over the rest of Spain and abroad. It is the world's largest A worker cooperative is a A cooperative (also co-operative or co-op) is an association of persons who join together to carry on an economic activity of mutual benefit, in an egalitarian fashion. The principles of cooperation are periodically updated by the International Cooperative Alliance [1] (http://www... worker cooperative.

Foundation

The company was founded in Arrasate, a town in Guipúzcoa (Basque Gipuzkoa, Spanish Guipúzcoa, in English sometimes as Guipuscoa) is a province of northern Spain, in the northeastern part of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. It is bordered by the provinces of Vizcaya, Álava, and Navarre, and by France and the Bay of Biscay. Its... Gipuzkoa known as Mondragón in Spanish (espa ol or castellano) Spoken in: Mexico, Colombia, Spain, Argentina, Nicaragua, Chile, USA, Venezuela, Costa Rica , Cuba, Peru, and 34 other countries. Region: Total speakers: 417 million (including second language speakers) Ranking: 2 (first language speakers, may vary based on metric) Genetic classification: Indo-European  Italic   ... Spanish. The town had suffered badly in the Alternative meaning: Spanish Civil War, 1820-1823 A republican soldier seeks cover on the Plaza de Toros in Teruel, east of Madrid. The Spanish Civil War (1936 - 1939) was the result of complex political differences between the Republicans — supporters of the government of the day, the Second Spanish Republic... Spanish Civil War and there was mass unemployment. A young priest, Father José María Arizmendiarrieta, arrived in 1941 is also the title of a Steven Spielberg movie made in 1979 see 1941 (film). Years: 1938 1939 1940 - 1941 - 1942 1943 1944 Decades: 1910s 1920s 1930s - 1940s - 1950s 1960s 1970s Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century 1941 in topic: Arts Architecture - Art - Film - Literature - Music Science and... 1941 and decided to focus on the economic development of the town, settling upon co-operative methods to achieve his goals. A cooperative (also co-operative or co-op) comprises a legal entity owned and democratically controlled by its members, with no passive shareholders. Unlike a union, a cooperative may assign different numbers of votes to different members; typically a cooperative is governed proportionally according to each members level of... Co-operatives and self-help organisations had a long tradition in the Basque Country but had died away after the War.

In 1943 is a common year starting on Friday. Years: 1940 1941 1942 - 1943 - 1944 1945 1946 Decades: 1910s 1920s 1930s - 1940s - 1950s 1960s 1970s Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century 1943 in topic: Arts Architecture - Art - Film - Literature - Music Science and technology Aviation - Rail transport - Science - Television Other topics... 1943, Arizmendi set up a democratically-managed Polytechnic School. The school played a key role in the emergence and development of the co-operative movement. In Years: 1953 1954 1955 - 1956 - 1957 1958 1959 Decades: 1920s 1930s 1940s - 1950s - 1960s 1970s 1980s Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century 1956 in topic: Arts Architecture - Art - Film - Literature - Music Science and technology Aviation - Rail transport - Science - Television Other topics Canada - Sport Lists of leaders: State leaders - Religious... 1956, five young graduates of the school set up the first co-operative enterprise, named ULGOR (now Fagor Electrodomésticos) after their surnames, which during its early years focused on the manufacture of petrol-based heaters and cookers. In Years: 1956 1957 1958 - 1959 - 1960 1961 1962 Decades: 1920s 1930s 1940s - 1950s - 1960s 1970s 1980s Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century 1959 in topic: Arts Architecture - Art - Film - Literature - Music Science and technology Aviation - Rail transport - Science - Television Other topics Canada - Sport Lists of leaders: State leaders - Religious... 1959, they then set up the Caja Laboral Popular ("People's Worker Bank"), a A credit union is a co-operative financial institution that is owned, controlled and administered by its members. Only a member of a credit union may deposit money with the credit union, or borrow money from it. The character of a borrower is often deemed to be the most important... credit union that both allowed the co-operative members access to financial services and subsequently provided start-up funds for new co-operative ventures. New co-operative companies started up in the following years, including Fagor Electrónica, Fagor Ederlan and Danobat.

It has also extended by inviting other co-operatives to join the group and offering rescue for some failed companies on condition of co-operativization.

The group companies operate like a Keiretsu (系列 - the kanji literally means series or related sequence) is a Japanese term for a set of companies with interlocking business relationships and shareholdings. The Big Six keiretsu are Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, Fuyo (formed principally from the old Yasuda zaibatsu), Sanwa, and Dai-Ichi Kangyo. The Toyota Group... keiretsu by giving preference to fellow co-operatives. Co-operative workers manage their finances through Caja Laboral, hold health insurances and pension funds at Lagun Aro and have discounts at Eroski markets and on Fagor appliances. Eroski stores are furnished by co-operative trucks. They may have studied at a group ikastola and extended studies at the Mondragoón University while having a labor stage at a co-operative.

When a cooperative has got in economical trouble, workers have preferred to take pay cuts over layoffs. If the situation is too bad, redundant workers are sought positions in other group co-operatives.

Current developments

In the These pages contain the trends of millennia and centuries. The individual century pages contain lists of decades and years. See history for different organizations of historical events. See Calendar and List of calendars for other groupings of years. For earlier time periods see cosmological timeline, geologic timescale, evolutionary timeline, pleistocene... 1980s, the various companies responded to pressures of globalisation by joining together as the Mondragón Cooperative Corporation . The MCC is now the Basque Country's largest corporation, the seventh largest in The Kingdom of Spain or Spain ( Spanish (espa ol or castellano) Spoken in: Mexico, Colombia, Spain, Argentina, Nicaragua, Chile, USA, Venezuela, Costa Rica , Cuba, Peru, and 34 other countries. Region: Total speakers: 417 million (including second language speakers) Ranking: 2 (first language speakers, may vary based on metric) Genetic classification... Spain. It is considered the world's largest worker co-operative. In 2002 the MCC contributed 3.7% towards the total GDP of the Basque Country. It has 38 industrial plants abroad, and this figure is expected to rise to 60 plants by Years: 2002 is a This is the calendar for a common year starting on Tuesday (dominical letter F), e.g. 2002, 1991, 1985, 1974, 1963... (A common year is a year with 365 days -- in other words, not a leap year.) January Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa  ... 2005.

Education has always been key to MCC and its development, hence the conversion of the old school into the University of Mondragón in the These pages contain the trends of millennia and centuries. The individual century pages contain lists of decades and years. See history for different organizations of historical events. See Calendar and List of calendars for other groupings of years. For earlier time periods see cosmological timeline, geologic timescale, evolutionary timeline, pleistocene... 1990s, a private university to promote further development. Some 4,000 students attend the university campuses in Mondragón and Oñati.

MCC now constitutes over 150 companies, with important manufacturing and engineering interests, as well as retail, financial and educational arms. Its supermarket arm, Eroski, is the largest Spanish-owned retail food chain and the fourth largest retail group in Spain.

The Basque government and the tax authorities of the Basque provinces have special measures to help co-operatives. The Deba valley around Mondragón has kept a very high employment rate even during Basque industrial crisis.

Organisation

The sovereign body is the 650-member Co-operative Congress, its delegates elected from across the individual co-operatives. The annual general assembly elects to a governing council which has day-to-day management responsibility and appoints senior staff. For each individual business, there is also a workplace council, the elected President of which assists the manager with the running of the business on behalf of the workers.

Backlash

The huge size of MCC has caused tensions between the needs of an international corporation and adherence to traditional co-operative principles. There have been accusations that factories have been relocated by stealth abroad, mainly in Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. Most frequently the term Latin America is restricted to countries whose inhabitants speak... Latin America, where workers are not given the same membership rights. By 1992 is a This is a calendar for any leap year starting on Wednesday (dominical letter ED) e.g. 1992. January February March Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 3 4 1 1... 1992, it was estimated that less than half of the then 12,000-strong workforce were full members of the co-operative. Trade unions have complained of anti-unionizing policies in Eroski. Some have accused Mondragón of using the co-operative ideals as a marketing figleaf.

The distance between the most senior levels of management and individual managers has also caused concern. There is less feeling amongst the members or socios that they run the company. Measures to prevent too great a gap between manager and worker payscales have been relaxed to better compete for high-level professionals, leading to greater tensions. In recent years, some co-operatives have withdrawn from MCC to try and reinstate a more personal management of each company by its workers.

In 2004, the merger of Eroski with the Pavement of a Valencia street, with arbour. Many ordinary places in the city are designed with attention to detail, and a sense of aesthetics. This article is about the original city in Spain called Valencia. For other uses of the name, see Valencia (disambiguation). Valencia (Spanish: Valencia /balenθ... Valencia-based cooperative Consum failed and both companies went separate ways.

External links

• MCC homepage (http://www.mcc.es/) (multi-lingual--English, French, German, Spanish, and Basque (Euskara))(uses Macromedia Flash or Flash is a graphics animation program, written and marketed by Macromedia, that uses vector graphics. The resulting files, called SWF (said like swiff) files, may appear in a web page to view in a web browser, or standalone Flash players may play them. Flash files occur most... Macromedia Flash, but it's not required)

Further reading

• We Build the Road as We Travel: Mondragon, A Cooperative Social System, Roy Morrison. ISBN 0965890317
• The Mondragon Cooperative Experience (1993), J. Ormachea.
• Cooperation at Work: The Mondragon Experience (1983), K. Bradely & A. Gelb.
• Values at Work: Employees participation meets market pressure at Mondragon (1999), G. Cheney.
• Mondragon: An economic analysis (1982), C. Logan & H. Thomas.