mondragón...

what has 120 different companies, 42,000 worker-owners, 43 schools, one college, does more than 4.8 billion dollars of business annually in manufacturing, services, retail and wholesale distribution, administers more than $5 billion in financial assets, and has a business model that is based on workers' self-management and the principles of the catholic social doctrine? answer: the mondragón cooperatives. in 1941, a bishop sent a young priest to teach in a vocational school in spain's basque country. in addition to the technical curriculum, young father jose maria arizmediarrieta taught the social doctrine of the catholic church to his students. some of the students began a small cooperative that built kerosene stoves. in 1959, they started what we would today call a credit union. today, the associated mondragón cooperatives manufacture automobile parts, electronic components, valves, taps, appliances. they have a full line of retail outlets offering consumer products, food, appliances, and a wholesale food business catering to restaurants. their bank has more than 100 branches, they offer a full range of insurance, and take care of their own social security and health insurance programs. they are not only holding their own within the "globalizing" economy, they are expanding. this is one of the success stories of people who take the church's social doctrine seriously, in particular, the teachings regarding (1) the dignity of the human person and his or her labour, (2) social solidarity and (3) the primacy of labour over capital. in most for profit businesses, labour is hired at the service of capital. for mondragón, capital is something they rent to benefit the worker-owners// okc catholic worker