Urban cooperatives

By Elsa Claro

HAVANA – Multidisciplinary teams in various research centers, institutes and universities nationwide are working in the design of what eventually will be an experiment involving 222 urban cooperatives. In a not-too-distant future, it will be a formula that will encompass different forms of property and production of goods and services.

The first tests will be made beginning in the last quarter of this year. For now, they consist of reconverting state-run businesses and service centers into small and medium-sized companies managed by their current employees or other people. They will elect their boards of directors.

Through flexible and varied modalities, the start of these businesses could be the rental of an installation, including its tools and supplies, or the usufruct of the facility. No option will be discarded.

Once the building (which remains as public property) is transferred, the technical means or material resources needed for the activity may be leased or lent.

That way, the workplace becomes a “partnered property” and the distribution of profits will depend on the contribution from each worker, in other words, according to the amount and level of work furnished by each one.

Vice President Marino Murillo told Parliament that cooperatives in other countries accept the physical or financial contribution of some workers in the form of shares and explained that the Cuban version will be based on each worker’s performance. Each performance will be evaluated by the members of the group, who will be independent in their decision-making.

If a worker contributes certain goods, an amount equivalent to his contribution will be repaid to him when the profits are divided. The others’ consensus will be needed. Sources told Progreso Weekly that some experiments have already been made in various sectors and different provinces, with magnificent results.

As the advantages and weaknesses are studied, the 222 cooperatives are being organized. Other forms of association may exist, depending on the specific sector that needs to be brought together.

The new associations will have legal personality and tax bases that are different from those of individual entrepreneurs. Once the experimental phase of this program is over, a General Law on Cooperatives will be passed that will contain everything that cannot be fully foretold at this point. The law will include agro cooperatives and possibly will provide the homogeneity that farmers’ groups lack at present.

As this type of activity begins and spreads, the state will rid itself of superfluous burdens, so it can deal with matters of greater importance. The experience tends to energize the economy, because workers are committed to perform more and better, since their income will depend on their performance.

The academicians who helped create the bases of the experiment (an experiment that promises to do well, despite some initial stumbling) attribute much importance to the role of municipal and provincial authorities in the future of the cooperatives, especially when it comes to rooting out many prohibitions that should disappear in the quest for a more dynamic economy.

The concord between local governments and cooperatives or other forms of property by non-state enterprises could satisfy the social needs of the various territories if the proper conditions and capacities exists at that scale, and if both parties draw commitments within the context of each site.

Presumably, there will be trades cooperatives and cooperatives of a technical-professional nature cannot be ruled out. This is a delicate matter that will require study, but it is prompted by the level of existing skills and the need to raise personal income.
Will there be small businesses engaged in transportation? It seems there will be. Already there are nuclei that may become widespread. The owners of medium and heavy vehicles like to associate within their own standards. Other cooperatives may organize to furnish community services, like street cleanup or building renovations.

As these projects proceed, the state-run businesses will not lose their character or objectives but will have another system of relations with the superior organisms. According to the concept that will be operative in January 2013, the cooperatives will have autonomy to establish their plans and set prices, according to the cost of production and international parameters. Similarly, they will be able to adjust their plans in the event of natural contingencies, for instance.

Right now, the efforts are being measured in a very ambiguous manner, because it is hard to be exact when both foreign currency and national currency enter into the picture. To make matters even and provide the exercises with realism, the businesses will deal only in Cuban pesos. The people who will direct the companies selected for the experiment are already taking courses in management and similar duties. Obviously, this and the creation of cooperatives are sufficiently important matters to deserve our attention.

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