1. Promoting Worker Ownership Education Among Youth
Ajamu Nangwaya
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/ University of Toronto
Presented at Canadian Worker Cooperative Federation’s Conference/AGM
November 17, 2005
Montreal, Quebec
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2. Objective of presentation
To identify some of the organizing and educational issues in promoting worker self-management and co-operative entrepreneurship among youth
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3. Context for Worker Ownership: Push Factors
Insecurity of the employment income
Younger workers’ desire for participation, control & self-employment
Globalization and the exploitive and oppressive power of the corporation
Attack on the welfare state – engenders self-reliant attitude
Politics without participation – cynicism
More educated workforce and need for meaning through and in work
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4. Going after the Group
6.7 million or 27.7% of Canadians between ages of years (StatsCan, July 2005)
24 – 40 age group usually the point when new business formation is prominent
Education and/or experience and confidence in abilities…enabling factors
$$$$ not the prime reason for entrepreneurial desire among youth and youth adults
Being own boss, use skills, family, over-come challenges major reasons
Workplace experiences may make self-management appealing
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5. Challenges Facing Prospective Worker-owners
Where to start? – fear of the unknown
Recognizing business opportunities – pre-feasibility studies…eliminating guesswork
Pulling together resources to go after opportunity
No/little experience with workplace democracy
Limited or no exposure to co-operative entrepreneurs and worker cooperatives
Difficulty in getting start-up funds
Finding potential worker cooperators
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6. Putting Out the Message – educating & organizing 1
Strong focus on cooperative values and principles, and vision of economic democracy – participatory democracy extends to politics
Transformative and experiential learning principles as guides in outreach and co-op entrepreneurial education
Focus appeal – fair trade/“anti-globalizers”, CED organizations, students in certain programs/courses, economically marginalized, workers in non-profit sector
Get our message into the market square – conferences, community radio, newspaper, blogs, play, etc.
Develop self-management educators & organizers
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7. Putting Out the Message – educating & organizing 2
Co-op entrepreneurship…basis of growing worker ownership…growth/expansion and creation of new o-ops
Necessary elements - innovativeness, creativity, participatory culture, risk-taking culture, competitiveness, network with co-ops & social enterprise, movement perspective
Co-op entrepreneurial education – (social & economic focus, systematic, experiential, etc.
Movement controlled firm to aid prospective & existing co-ops
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8. Teaching for Cooperative Entrepreneurship: A Few Tools
Analyze business sectors for opportunities – sector opportunity study
Experiential exercises aimed at transforming social and economic perspective
“Live” case studies of worker co-operatives
One page business plan –group exercise
Worker co-operators speak to learners
Hunting for clients (marketing & sales exercise–non-profits, co-ops, etc.
Creativity and innovation promoting exercises
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9. Implication
Need to develop teaching tools and curriculum to facilitate co-operative entrepre-neurship education co-op in movement
Develop organic cooperative networks on territorial basis – isolated co-ops won’t cut it
Develop entity to facilitate creation of new worker co-ops and expand existing ones
Cooperative must be relevant, experiential, transformative; promotes innovation
Youth will be attracted to dynamic worker co-ops that make strong contribution to self & community
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10. Actionable Next Steps
Create task force to examine the state and appropriateness of co-operative education in worker co-ops
Build coalition with CED organizations to educate youth about worker ownership
Work with business education departments to create community-based research and capacity building projects that create pre-feasibility studies & other aids to expanding worker ownership
Study the feasibility of making existing worker co-ops growth-oriented, risk-taking, and innovative
Redouble effort to encourage foundations to support self-employment through worker co-operatives
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