Industrial Commonship , otherwise known as Industrial Common Ownership Movement (ICOM) was a UK national umbrella organisation for worker cooperatives , set up in 1971. It worked to increase the number of worker co-ops in the country. ICOM's model rules for cooperatives, published in 1976, were based on a de-centralised and collectivist concept of democracy. In 2001 ICOM merged with the Co-operative Union to become Co-operatives UK .
7-675: ICOM is one of the founder organisations of CECOP, the European regional organisation of CICOPA , the world sectoral organisation for industry and service, and itself part of the International Cooperative Alliance . The Industrial Common Ownership Act that recognised common ownership companies in law was passed by the British Parliament in 1976. The first certificate was awarded to Scott Bader Company . The emphasis on common ownership that inhibits
14-586: Is active in 30 countries, promoting worker cooperatives, social cooperatives and producers' cooperatives in industry and services. CICOPA has two regional organisations: CECOP (CICOPA Europe) and CICOPA Americas. CICOPA Americas includes two sub-regional organisations; CICOPA North America and CICOPA Mercosur. The 2003 CICOPA General Assembly held in Oslo , Norway approved in principle the World Declaration on Cooperative Worker Ownership. The final draft
21-547: The Industrial Common Ownership Act. The current trading name of ICOF is "Co-operative & Community Finance". CICOPA CICOPA ( International Organisation of Cooperatives in Industry and Services ) is a branch of the International Cooperative Alliance . Founded in 1947, CICOPA has a membership of 46 national and regional cooperative federations or support organizations. CICOPA
28-476: The UK grew from 100 or so in the mid-70s to 3000 by around 1990. Industrial Common Ownership Finance (ICOF) was set up in 1973 as a financial arm of ICOM, to allow a revolving loan fund for worker co-operatives. This was needed because worker co-operatives commonly had trouble raising capital since their democratic model excluded the possibility of investment by outside shareholders. In 1976 ICOF received £250 000 through
35-494: The national Co-operative Development Agency in 1978 and the Inner Urban Areas Act 1978. In subsequent years common ownership was promoted as a model to create employment, and approximately 100 local authorities in the UK established co-operative development agencies for this purpose. Funding was also allocated to co-ops through the job creation schemes of Manpower Services Commission . The number of worker co-ops in
42-411: The transfer of capital and assets to private interests is what differentiates the UK cooperative model from its continental European counterpart. ICOM had a monopoly on registering UK co-ops under the common ownership model until the late 1980s. A number of laws were passed by Labour governments to allocate national and local funding to the costs of starting worker cooperatives. This included the setup of
49-638: Was approved by the CICOPA Executive Committee on 17 February 2004. The Declaration was then approved by the ICA General Assembly in Cartagena , Colombia , in 2005. CICOPA organised a two-year consultation process with its members in order to develop a common concept concerning social cooperatives typologies. The World Standards of Social Cooperatives are the outcome of this process. They were approved in their substance at
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