Vijesti ROMI.HR

Zadruga je autonomno udruženje dobrovoljno ujedinjenih građani radi formiranja demokratske organizacije, čija se uprava i upravljanje moraju provoditi na način koji su dogovorili članovi, općenito u kontekstu tržišne ekonomije ili mješovite ekonomije, iako zadruge mogu biti i dio planske ekonomije. Funkcija zadruge je udovoljiti zajedničkim ekonomskim, socijalnim i kulturnim potrebama i težnjama svih partnera putem tvrtke.

Prve zadruge industrijskog tipa nastaju u predindustrijskoj Europi. Međutim, korijeni pokreta zadruga imaju raznolike utjecaje iz cijelog svijeta. U zemljama engleskog govornog područja su od 1795. postojali 'post-feudalni' oblici suradnje radnika i vlasnika zemljišta, što se danas može shvatiti kao sustav podjele dobiti.

„Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers”, osnovano 1844. godine, često se smatra prvim uspješnim pokušajem osnivanja zadruge, koji se i danas koristi kao model za današnje zadruge. Bila je to skupina od samo 28 tkalaca i ostalih zanatlija koji su živjeli u Rochdaleu u Engleskoj i osnovali zadrugu kako bi otvorili trgovinu hranom, jer to bez udruživanja nisu mogli  ostvariti. Model je bio toliko uspješan da je u samo 10 godina u Ujedinjenom Kraljevstvu nastalo preko 1000 zadruga.

Radnička zadruga je zadruga zasnovana na demokratskim principima koja je kontrolirana od strane vlastitih radnika. U „čistoj“ radničkoj zadruzi nema vanjskih vlasnika, samo radnici posjeduju dionice u tvrtki. Međutim, postoje i hibridni načini u kojima potrošači, članovi zajednice ili ulagači također posjeduju neke dionice. Stoga radnička zadruga ima karakteristiku da najveći dio njezine radne snage posjeduje dionice i većinu dionica posjeduje radna snaga.

Posebni modeli zadruga su kolhozi u Sovjetskom Savezu ili, do neke mjere, zadruge u Titovoj Jugoslaviji. Staljin je želio provesti komunističke ideje i povećati poljoprivrednu proizvodnju Sovjetskog Saveza. Ova ideja je završila potpunom zabranom privatnog poljoprivrednog izvoza 1928. godine i prisilnom kolektivizacijom zemlje te upotrebom nasilja nad onim seljacima koji su se odbili pridružiti kolhozima. Obvezna integracija malih zemljoposjednika u kolkhoze provedena je uz pomoć represije prema seljacima koji im se nisu željeli pridružiti. Raspadom Sovjetskog Saveza, kolkhozi su prestali postojati.

Postoje zemlje u kojima je sustav zadruga spasio veliki dio radnika u vrijeme krize. U Argentini su se, na primjer, zbog ekonomske krize 2001. godine mnogi vlasnici različitih kompanija iz različitih područja odustali od svog vlasništva zbog ekonomske krize. Razne tvornice, hoteli i druge tvrtke ostale su bez uprave. U ovoj situaciji radnici su se odlučili za akciju, te su „oporavili“ odnosno preuzeli ove tvrtke. Poželjni model za provođenje ovakvog „oporavka“ bio je zadruga. Primjeri su: FaSinPat, Fábrica Brukman, Hotel BAUEN, Chilavert, IMPA, Maderera Córdoba i Cooperativa Textil Patagonia.

Zadruge mogu funkcionirati kao alat za socijalno uključivanje. Marginalizirane skupine, poput Roma, mogu u zadrugama pronaći oblik organizacije koji može poboljšati njihove mogućnosti. U Zaragozi u Španjolskoj je 2013. godine Državni zakon 22/2011 propisao da svatko tko želi prevoziti neopasni otpad te sakupljati i prodavati otpadni metal mora ispunjavati niz zahtjeva, uključujući i da bude registriran kao samozaposleni, što može biti vrlo skupo. U tom kontekstu pojavila se potreba za stvaranjem zadruge „Calós del Hierro“, jer Romi nisu mogli financirati pojedinačne tvrtke. Javlja se i kao potreba za profesionalizacijom prikupljanja otpada, jer je Zadruga pribavila odgovarajuće dozvole i ovlaštenja za razvoj djelatnosti u skladu sa zakonom.

Važno je naglasiti da je u najtežim vremenima, u vrijeme krize, solidarnost i jedinstvo među najugroženijima ono što ih drži „na nogama“. Radnička zadruga je materijalizacija te solidarnosti i sposobnosti opstanka u teškim vremenima.

On December 16th of 1992, the United Nations General Assembly in Resolution 47/90 "proclaims International Day of Cooperatives on the first Saturday of July 1995, to celebrate the centenary of the establishment of the International Cooperative Alliance, and decides to study the possibility of celebrating an international day of Cooperatives in future years ". On December 23th of 1994 the General Assembly of the United Nations in the resolution 49/155 "Invites governments, international organizations, specialized agencies and relevant national and international cooperative organizations to observe annually the first Saturday of July, starting in 1995, the International Day of Cooperatives, proclaimed by the General Assembly in its resolution 47/90.

A cooperative is an autonomous association of people voluntarily united to form a democratic organization whose administration and management must be carried out in the way agreed by the members, generally in the context of the market economy or the mixed economy, although the cooperatives have also given as a complementary part of the planned economy. Its intention is to meet the common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations of all partners through a company.

The first industrial type cooperatives arise in pre-industrial Europe. However, the roots of the cooperative movement have diverse influences from all over the world. In the English-speaking world, since 1795 there were post-feudal forms of cooperation between workers and landowners that nowadays could be seen as a way of profit sharing.

Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, founded in 1844, is often considered the first successful attempt of a cooperative, still being used as a model for today's cooperatives. It was a group of just 28 weavers and other artisans who lived in Rochdale, England and started the cooperative in order to open a food store. Such investment individually could not have been solved. The model was so successful that in just 10 years over 1000 cooperatives emerged in the UK.

A worker's cooperative is a cooperative that is democratically owned and controlled by its own workers. There are no external owners in a "pure" worker cooperative, only the workers own shares in the company. However, there are also hybrid ways in which consumers, community members, or equity investors also own some shares. A worker cooperative, therefore, has the characteristic that the majority of its labor force owns shares, and the majority of the shares are owned by the labor force.

Specific models of cooperatives are the Kolkhoz of the Soviet Union or, up to the point, the Zadruga’s in Tito’s Yugoslavia. Stalin wanted to implement communist ideas and to increase the agricultural production of the Soviet Union. This idea ended up with total prohibition of private agrarian exportations in 1928 and forceful collectivization of the land, by using violence against those peasants who refused to join the Kolkhoz. The mandatory integration of small landowners into the Kolkhoz was done together with a strong repression towards the peasants who did not want to join them. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Kolkhoz ceased to exist.

There are countries where the cooperative system has saved a large part of the workers in times of crisis. In Argentina, for example, with the 2001 economic crisis many businessmen owners of different companies from diverse fields withdrew due to the economic context. Various factories, hotels and others companies were left without their management. In this situation, the workers did not sit idly by and decided to "recover" these companies. The preferred model for the purposes of recovery was the cooperative. Examples are: FaSinPat, Fábrica Brukman, Hotel BAUEN, Chilavert, IMPA, Maderera Córdoba and Cooperativa Textil Patagonia.

Cooperatives can function as a tool for social inclusion. Marginalized groups, such as the Roma people, can find in cooperatives a form of organization that can improve their opportunities. In Zaragoza, Spain in 2013 the State Law 22/2011 that law establishes that anyone who wants to transport non-hazardous waste, collect and sell scrap metal, must meet a series of requirements, including being registered as self-employed, which can be very expensive. In this context, the need arose to create the “Calós del Hierro” cooperative because the Roma People could not pay the autonomous regime individually. Not only that but also, it arises as a need to professionalize the scrap collection because it obtained the pertinent licenses and authorizations for the development of the activity in accordance with the waste legislation.

It is important to highlight that in the most difficult times, in time of crisis, it is solidarity and unity among the most vulnerable ones what keeps them on their feet. A workers cooperative is the materialization of that solidarity and of that willingness to overcome difficult times.