By CUSP\u00a02015 Special Edition, Translated by Hang Yu NG<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Managing a store is about profit maximization. Everything that\nfavors capital accumulation is acceptable\u2014even if there is frequent employee\nturnover or a lack of interpersonal relationship. Apart from this mainstream\napproach, do we have another choice? Alternative economic models do exist, but\nas transnational capital and local financial groups control industries from\ndifferent sectors, the room for survival of alternative models is often\nthrottled as they could hardly withstand market competition. However, a\ncooperative store in CUHK, which has been operating for over ten years, is a\nmodel of applying the concept of a people-oriented economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The United Cooperative Store, located at LG, Benjamin\nFranklin Centre, was founded by the Hong Kong Women Workers’ Association\n(HKWWA) in November 2011. In 2000, the University renovated the Benjamin\nFranklin Centre and reserved a place for setting up a convenience store that\nthe Student Union (CUSU) had long been fighting for. Meanwhile, some students\nfrom the CUHK Grassroots Concern Group discovered the concept of \u201ccooperative\u201d\nand were interested in it. They thought that apart from having a spirit of embracing\nsocial equality, the University also enjoyed preferential rent, which provided\nsuitable soil for developing cooperatives. More importantly, they understood\nthat cooperatives implement employee autonomy and economic democracy, which\nhold a fundamentally different relationship from the general production\nrelationship\u2014one in which an enterprise may exploit the employees. They hoped\ncooperatives could counter the trend of monopoly. At the time before The Link\nREIT (now renamed as the Link Real Estate Investment Trust) had been listed on\nthe Hong Kong stock exchange and Starbucks had not yet entered CUHK, this kind\nof thought was undoubtedly radical. The Grassroots Concern Group tried to\npersuade the Staff-Student Centres Management Committee through the CUSU and\nproposed priority tendering for community groups, which the Committee later\npassed. In the following summer vacation, the original successful bidder\nwithdrew, and the second choice HKWWA took over and signed a 5-year contract.\nHKWWA and the students started fundraising; they received donations and\ninterest-free loans, allowing them to successfully gather the $200,000\ninitiative funding. The members of the Cooperative bought shares and nervously\nprepared for the opening 3 months later. The members recalled that they were\ndelighted to have successfully opened the business, but they never imagined\nthat the Cooperative would still exist after more than a decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Women as Labors:\nCooperation and Empowerment Give Strength<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This group of grassroots women was unemployed workers due to\nthe relocation of the manufacturing sector outside Hong Kong during the\neconomic transformation or housewives who did not work outside. How did they\ncome together, work hard, and start their business? Women who apply for a job\nin the United Cooperative Store are required to attend a series of workshops\nwith themes including the Cooperative Store, food manufacturing, store\nmanagement, and language training. They even have to go through an internship\nperiod and pass an assessment before becoming an official member. The key is\nhow the freshmen understand the \u201cCooperative Store\u201d and whether they are\nwilling and suitable to work together for the long term. A Cooperative member\nsaid, \u201cThey cannot come in as they want, but they can leave anytime.\u201d If\nrecruiting new members is not an easy task and a substitute cannot be\nimmediately found to fill a vacancy, why would they allow someone to leave\nanytime? The reason is that the Cooperative Store respects individual freedom,\nand does not force anyone to sacrifice life for work. If one withdraws, she can\ntake her money paid for shares back. If one comes back within a year, she will\neven be accepted as a member again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Apart from the conditions of joining and quitting, there are\nmore special features of the Cooperative. The Cooperative does not have a boss;\ninstead, it is managed by the employees equally. Collective democracy decides\nall matters including wages, working hours, division of work, and product\nconfiguration. Compared to general enterprises, employees are subject to the\nboss\u2019s will regarding the duty, the pay, and whether one will lose the job.\nEmployees have low status and are treated as production machines. The\nconsequences are overworking, being outsourced, wages arrears, unjustifiable\ndismissals, and damage to employees right through the use of grey areas in law.\nIt is imaginable that compared with the general employees, Cooperative members can\npreserve their own dignity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cooperation in practice, of course, is way more complicated than in theory\u2014do\ngrassroots women really know about management? Are housewives (\u5e2b\u5976\nsi1 naai1) capable of working outside? They themselves were also doubtful at\nthe beginning. Unlike enterprises that have hierarchy and job descriptions,\nevery member in the Cooperative Store needs to have a basic understanding of\ndifferent routines and what exactly they need to do. This offers them a\nconsiderable degree of autonomy. Although they have equal rights and\nresponsibilities, it is impossible for everyone to immediately master the\nskills of keeping the store, ordering products, and accounting, so sometimes\nable people do work more. As they have various personalities\u2014some are strong\nand some are shy\u2014sometimes conflicts are unavoidable. Members who seldom deal\nwith workplace conflicts may feel a bit uncomfortable. Under these challenges,\neconomic autonomy seems to be an unattainable concept. The regular meetings of\nthe Cooperative provide a communication platform where members can raise any\nopinion\u2014they do not need to take orders from a boss or be scared of dismissal.\nPeople who sat in the regular meetings would realize that the members need to\ndiscuss the Cooperative Store\u2019s operation and persuade one another so as to\nreach a consensus. The voting system under the majority rule is only adopted\nwhen a consensus cannot be reached for a long time. Once, some students\nsuggested the Store sell stirred noodles. While members who agreed thought that\nsatisfying students\u2019 expectations should be prioritized and that may also\nincrease profit, the opposers pointed out that stirred noodles were not as\nhealthy as other products, which did not meet students\u2019 nutritional needs.\nAfter repeated discussion and careful consideration, all of them finally agreed\nto include this new product. Members who had seldom voiced out found that they\nwere respected and could influence the store\u2019s development. Therefore, they\nhave become more confident to raise their opinions even if their change is\nslow. Grassroots women who used to have no right to speak in public discussions\nhave found strength in the deliberations, \u201cOur insights are broadened, and we\nare more able to express ourselves.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Affection for the\nStudents and CUHK<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Cooperative Store opens at the earliest and closes the\nlatest of all services in CUHK, which has benefited many teachers and students.\nApart from the normal opening hours 7:30 am to 11:30 pm, special shifts are\navailable every weekday after midnight. After the first contract renewal, some\nsuggested the store should open overnight. Members of the Cooperative Store and\nGrassroot Concern Group discussed it,\nbelieving the customer flow after midnight is too low for overnight service.\nHowever, some students may stay up late at night, so it would be best to take\ncare of their needs. To extend the opening hours without affecting the\nCooperative members\u2019 working hours, the Grassroot Concern Group suggested\nletting students take up voluntary duty late at night, which resulted in the\ninitiation of the Special Shift Plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlike typical enterprises, the Cooperative Store has always\nbeen people-oriented. Making money is important, but it is not the only or\nultimate goal. In a world in which alienation pervades and man becomes an economic\nanimal, the Cooperative thinks that customers should not be materialized as\npurchasing power and amount of revenue. Unlike enterprises that do charity only\nwhen having sufficient surplus, the Cooperative Store members made a decision:\nevery link of production and sales must care for people and the environment\nwith a healthy and friendly attitude. Therefore, they pay special attention to\nthe ways of getting along with students and helping one another. Not only has\nthe Grassroot Concern Group assisted in the foundation of the Cooperative\nStore, but it also helps survey teachers and students with questionnaires\nregularly so that the Cooperative Store members can understand customers’\nexpectations and opinions and make improvements. The Cooperative is not merely\na shop that sells products. It is also a place that involves students in its\nplanning. The Grassroot Concern Group has posted information about\nCooperatives\u2019 notions and social movements at the storefront. The Cooperative\nand the Grassroot Concern Group work together to hold distinctive activities\nlike \u201cNight Talk @ the Cooperative\u201d and \u201cPoolside Concert.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Stand Up for Social Advancement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Cooperative Store also pays close attention to the labor\nissues outside the university and has a voice in labor movements. HKWWA often\ngathers its members to learn about the recent hot topics in society, labor\nlegislation and fiscal policy; every Labor Day and 1 July, the women laborers\njoin the demonstrations together. Before the Statutory minimum wage came into\nforce, the Cooperative had taken the initiative to increase the hourly wage to\n$33 as suggested by community labor associations; a year after the raise, the\nCooperative was not \u201cbrought down\u201d by the minimum wage, which proved a\nreasonable raise brings no harm but good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As their knowledge and participation increase, they\ngradually realize that apart from the identity of a shop assistant in their own\nstore, their destinies are so closely tied with other laborers that they should\nwork together to promote social advancement. \u201cOur awareness of social issues\nhas increased and we would stand up and contribute our efforts. It is not only\nabout a particular individual. It relies on collective power.\u201d They opposed the\noutsourcing of school bus drivers and janitors of the Estates Management Office\n(EMO), set up street counters and distributed leaflets in Kwun Tong in support\nof the APM janitors whom Sun Hung Kai Properties\u2019 contractor exploited. When\nworkers of the university were in accidents, steel benders or dock workers went\non strikes, or huge natural disasters such as tsunamis and earthquakes in\nSoutheast Asia occurred, the Cooperative held a one-day charity sale and\ndonated the income of that day to the needy. As they can feel that the\ndemocratic policies in the Cooperative have empowered them, they care about the\ndemocratization of Hong Kong. They discussed the reform of the political system\nand Occupy Central with other grassroots women, started the charity sale of\n\u201cDemocracy Soap\u201d and glutinous rice ball to raise donations for the \u201cOccupy\nCentral\u201d movement in 2014.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Store Sparking Hope<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n These years, the Cooperative Store had gone through lots of\nchanges: the previous narrow storefront had been renovated and expanded; a\nsink, a refrigerator, storage space, and a printer were added; to support fair\ntrade, new fair trade products including coffee and chocolate were stocked.\nThey started to use environmentally friendly detergent and hand sanitizer and\nsell eco-friendly soaps and lipsticks handmade by friendly partners to promote\na green life; they also paid visits to local farms and sold vegetables from\norganic (local) family farms nearly at a cost price. Improvements are made in\nresponse to the constructive feedback given by teachers and students and facilitated\nby the support from social groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The United Cooperative Store is committed to promoting the\ncooperative movement. Every year, the Cooperative Store cooperates with CUSU\nand the Grassroot Concern Group on occasions like Labor Week and Fairtrade Week\nto introduce labor rights and promote economic concepts including democracy and\nequality. The success of the CUHK United Cooperative Store has inspired and\nguided the cooperative experiments in other institutes: cooperative stores\nfounded by women\u2019s associations blossomed in Lingnan University, the City\nUniversity of Hong Kong (CityU), the University of Hong Kong (HKU), Hong Kong\nCollege of Technology (HKCT), and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU).\nOutside the campus, the Cooperative Store allied with its friendly partners\nsuch as the Greenwise Workers Co-operative Society Ltd. and Kwan Fong\nCaretakers Cooperative. In 2012, the International Year of Cooperatives, the\nCooperative Store held a promotion day in Mongkok to introduce their unique\nexperience to the citizens. Setting up cooperatives is a global movement; while\nHKWWA would study the development of cooperatives under different cultural\nbackgrounds and political and economic systems, organizations from mainland\nChina and overseas would visit and learn from CUHK United Cooperative Store. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While the Cooperative Store continues to grow, monopoly is\nbecoming more and more common in Hong Kong. The interest of a small group of\npeople has dominated the environment of the majority. Streets and malls have\nbecome similar in appearance; the world\u2019s highest working hours per capita is\nno longer news; and the large number of citizens donating to the strike fund\nreflects that we can no longer stand the exploitation. The approach of\ncooperatives is becoming more precious. CUHK is the forerunner of supporting\nsocial economy among the institutes in Hong Kong. Without the humanistic spirit\nand the tradition of student movements that we are proud of\u2014which are like soil\nand air to nourish this social experiment started by the grassroots\u2014it would be\ndifficult for the United Cooperative Store to blossom. From the Cooperative\nStore\u2019s example, we see a possible picture of a beautiful society\u2014this is the\nlife experience we originally should have. May this spark, which represents the\nhope for change, continue to burn in our hearts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By CUSP\u00a02015 Special Edition, Translated by Hang Yu NG […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8209,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[421,289,422],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusp.hk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9742"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusp.hk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusp.hk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusp.hk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusp.hk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9742"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cusp.hk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9742\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusp.hk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusp.hk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusp.hk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusp.hk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}