Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Democracy at Work in an Indian Industrial Cooperative

Democracy at Work in an Indian Industrial Cooperative

Franke, Richard W.
Raghavan, Pyralal
Isaac, T. M. Thomas

Hardcover

Series: Cornell International Industrial and Labor Relations Reports

EconomicsAnthropologyGeneral Political Science

ISBN10: 0801433843
ISBN13: 9780801433849
Publisher: ILR Press
Published: Jun 15 1998
Pages: 272
Weight: 1.25
Height: 0.75 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English

The authors tell the story of a democratic workers' cooperative that makes hand-rolled cigarettes, known as beedis, in the unorganized sector of a fiercely competitive capitalist economy in India. For decades, beedi workers have been among the most exploited and impoverished of India's work force. In 1969, in the southwestern Indian state of Kerala, several thousand workers banded together to form a worker-owned beedi cooperative. The authors argue that their skill and determination, combined with Kerala's generally leftist political culture, allowed them to beat the odds. The cooperative surprised the private sector beedi barons by creating an enterprise that has lasted and prospered, offering the best wages and benefits in the business, while making a profit and contributing to the local economy.The authors analyze the major features of the cooperative, assessing its overall structure, worker-elected management, shop floor democracy, and progress in providing a better life for its worker-owners. Tensions are also discussed, including the complaints of women workers and the need for diversification from tobacco.

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