Don't forget the People's Memorial Association and their People's Memorial Funeral Cooperative. The former has been in operation for over 70 years — longer than PCC and GHC and almost as long as REI!

Is it true that the UW isn't addressing coops at all, though, or is it just that the business school isn't doing so?

Also, where can we learn more about this cooperative café?

Co-ops certainly don’t guarantee livable wages or fair labor practices. You might want to look into REI’s wage structure and labor practices a little more closely. While co-ops certainly have merit, the mere fact that a company calls itself a co-op doesn’t mean that adheres to the principles that typically separate co-ops from other large retail operations. REI like many other retailers has increasingly come to rely on a low paid part time contingent workforce; this in spite of ever increasing executive compensation and profit margins.
In fact one wonders what benefits co-ops like REI provide the worker or the consumer. Are their labor practices really any better than other large scale retailers? Perhaps better than some and worse than others, it seems this article fails to demonstrate how exactly co-ops are outperforming than their peers when it comes to socially just labor practices and consumer benefits. Are we to believe that REI’s employees are treated better then Starbuck’s employees or any other similar retailers?
And what about the consumer, does REI offer its customers or members something other outdoor retailers don’t? Surely REI has seen years where business was better than others. Did its member realize a similarly better than average dividend in those years? The fact is for the better part of the last decade the members have seen the same old 10% dividend regardless of business conditions. Even after this 10% dividend is accounted for better deals can usually be found elsewhere.
How about the supposedly democratic structure of co-ops, care to guess how many of REI’s executives obtained their positions by running in elections where they were contested by other candidates? Exactly none, since the sitting board nominates candidates for subsequent elections. Guess what, they nominate themselves to run uncontested, and are then “elected” by the membership and there is no practical way this process can be changed since the board of directors has increased the number of signatures required for the membership to select their own candidate to a number that simply can’t be achieved.
I’m afraid I’m just not convinced. While there are many examples of co-ops doing admirable work providing goods and services while behaving in socially responsible ways, this form of business can like all other things grow to an inhumane scale and take on the existence for the sake of existence and growth for the sake of growth characteristics that typify many of America’s most loathed corporations. Nine dollars an hour is nine dollars an hour whether it’s earned at Wallmart or REI.

Benjamin - There was someone from the People's Memorial Co-op at SLICE! You're right, they are a really interesting co-op that does good work for people around here. I'd be interested in learning more about them.
As far as I know there aren't any classes about cooperative economics, business or theory at the UW. It's a big school so I could be wrong, but I've been looking around some to find a class I might take.
More info about the student co-op can be found at www.uwsfc.com. It doesn't mention it above, but I'm one of the "directors" of the co-op and I can say it's been a great experience so far and I hope we can work with the school to somehow enhance their curriculum.

Bjohn - Interesting points. I'm mainly referring to worker-owned, or worker-consumer hybrid co-ops when I say they have a stake in the company. It's true that larger co-ops often act like other corporations, but it really just depends on the structure of governance. I'm not going to try to argue about how big co-ops could be changed. The value I see is in co-ops like Evergreen which are designed with workers in mind from their founding.

Actually, the UW helps administer one of our larger co-ops, the ASUW.

There is no 'economics of co-ops' or 'business of co-ops'. A co-op is a form of joint-stock ownership. It may be capitalized by customers who wish to have a specialized supplier- the original reason for the formation of REI. It may be capitalized by idealistic customers who want members to contribute time and thought to running a specialized supplier, as PCC is.

Or, the co-op may serve as a zero-profit holding company and business, buying and selling for members with the lowest possible administration costs, as the farmers co-ops do.

Then there are the co-ops for the sellers, attempts to bundle sellers into a group large enough to get favorable terms in the marketplace, or to assume a position once held by a middleman, such as gathering wool that has been carded and cleaned and taking it to the spinners and weavers. At one time many of the plywood mills on the west coast were owned and managed by the workers on an equal share basis.

While I appreciate the emotions motivating Shane, he should note that, in focusing on the co-op scale of a coffeehouse, he has whittled down the idea of 'cop-op' to the size of a soap sliver in a bathtub.

In a sense, the small co-ops are the most important of all, as only they can relate on a human level to their neighborhoods. They offer the option of a time investment rather than a capital investment to purchase a share. They provide worker self-management or community self-management, along with sharp lessons on the limitations of management by consensus.

But we can hardly afford to limit ourselves to our circumscribed view. We need a national co-op to negotiate better prices on Medicare prescription drugs as well as a neighborhood co-op to serve coffee. We need public power and public transportation. Hopefully Shane and other interested people will occasionally glance abroad at large co-ops doing these things, yes, and here in the states at our successful public power co-ops and utilities. We'll be needing these ideas soon.

People's Memorial Association was born of the Depression, when the progressive minister of People's Church saw funeral homes preying on the families of their loved ones at a time when they were most vulnerable to being shamed into spending money they didn't have. The first funeral society in the U.S. was formed here with a nominal membership fee so that members' families would get a basic cremation or funeral without any pressure. That service is still available for a lifetime membership fee of $25. Cremation or burial is extra, payable when you die. See www.peoplesmemorial.org

Note that competitor the Neptune Society is a for-profit company, not a co-op nor a nonprofit.