s 1,2

prout.econ

Functioning of Cooperatives

September 16, 1995

Q: How should cooperatives arrange for the support of those who have important administrative roles?

You see, in a collective each person has responsibility for the whole, but each person does not have the same tasks to do. So let us say there is a farming collective. The people in that collective will have responsibility for the entire collective, yet each will do this through their own tasks. So there are twenty farmers, let us say. They will elect one president who will be in charge of the collective. The president will do all the basic coordination and will keep the collective in order. Then they will elect one secretary to handle the finances for a given term. And the other people, they will do each an assigned task as per the need of the collective. And each will also have their own farm, their own work, which makes them a member of this collective. Each is doing their work, they have their farm, they are working the farm, but they come together as a collective to handle the joint duties. And they assign them accordingly, making one president and then assigning respective tasks as needed and electing officers. In this way the collective may operate.

Now it is true that there is extra responsibility for those people who are working hard for the welfare of the common group. And so all will contribute to give recompense to those who must put forward practical effort on behalf of the group. So let us say there are twenty farmers. Three are doing tasks of varying degrees to keep the collective in practical application. All may meet, all may have tasks, but they are lesser tasks. So if it is taking much of the time for one or two persons, then the others must give accordingly to support those individuals. But they should give according to their capacity. Now there may be a minimum, let us say 25 percent or 15 percent. In such a collective, if it is prosperous, 15 percent will be very good, and so they will give 15 to the operation of the collective, and from that these people who are employed to work hard will be provided salary. And it will be the decision of the collective as to how much they will be given.

This is one practical method for implementing a collective decision. I am sure there are others as well. Each collective must decide for itself what amounts and in what way the criteria are established, for time, place and person must be considered, and there can be no hard and fast rule that will apply in all settings. But in collective development this is often a meaningful approach.

You build your collectives in a nice way and implement the ideas you propound so all may look to you when you give these innovations and say, "Ah-ha, look at these people. They are a practical example of what can be done. Let us take their example and put it to use."

Q: In a cooperative, how should decisions requiring specialized expertise be handled?

You know, in any setting there are those who have expertise. Let us say there is a hospital collective: There are doctors, nurses, administrators -- so many people. Each have their own expertise. Now all will have a say. Even the hospital worker will have a say in the collective. But the hospital worker does not have the expertise of management as the administrator, nor does the hospital have the expertise in the medical realm of the doctor. But the work of the hospital worker is of equal importance, because the doctor cannot do the task, and the administrator cannot do the task, without the hospital worker. So all have a role, all have a task to do. And all should have a vote in the operation and policies. Yet the expertise of each must be utilized in their own area. So if the hospital worker tries to make policy about how the doctor should operate his clinical practice, that would not be fitting and would not benefit the care of the clients, would it? Now if the administrator also tells the doctor, "You practice like this," this again will violate the clinical practice of the doctor. But if the doctor orders the administrator, "You do it like this," that also may not be good because the doctor may not have administrative capacities. So each must function within the area of their own expertise. Yet they can come together as a collective operating with respect for each other and for the expertise that each possesses. But one should not try to do the task of the other.

Like this, people with different expertise, different capacities, may come together in one collective group united by a common purpose, and in that common purpose they will provide different services. And each will have their own defined area of expertise. It is the expertise of the hospital worker to know when to change the bedding, what needs to be done in a practical way to make sure that the patient is comfortable throughout the day and night. If the administrator wants to cut the budget to make it more efficient, and cuts the hospital worker so that they cannot perform these tasks in a good way, it is the right of the hospital worker, it is the duty of the hospital worker, to stand to the administrator and say, "Wait, wait. You are interfering with my realm of practice." So the expertise of each must be respected in the collective, in the joint purpose that they fulfill.