Workers.coop Birmingham 2023

Notes from the Birmingham, October 2023 workers.coop Gathering Discussion

CoTech as the tech industrial sector of workers.coop

• Update what CoTech does
• Update website, specifically about, join and manifesto
• How to managed the fund
• What constitutes a member
• More collaboration within CoTech
• Learn from patio.coop
• Keep branding
• Define / change focus
• Comms:
  • Mailing list
• Concerns:
  • To what extent would we be autonomous
  • Retain our own Bank Account?
  • Separate membership fee?
  • What support would we get from workers.coop?
  • Detailed terms of a potential merger.
• Membership fee: CoTech fee ceases in favour of Workers.coop fee with a percentage retained via referral from CoTech. 70/30 split in CoTech's favour This gives CoTech the ability to remain autonomous in it's day to day activities. It pays for infrastructure, a co-ordinator and allows Co-Tech to run as a viable organisation.
• Fee generated from (effectively affiliate linked) membership fees, could be used to promote workers.coop which helps to achieve both our and workers.coop's goal.
• CoTech continues to be able to raise it's own funds through projects etc...
• John has agreed that there's a deal to be done, but requires negotiation
• CoTech acts as the infrastructure and development arm of workers.coop

Problems:

• Currently feels insular and exclusive which gives a standoffish feel to it.
• Disparity between number of members who pay an those that don't.
• This is an open forum for anyone with issues to speak up so we can put CoTech on the right foot forward.

Solutions:

• We need to be clearer to existing and prospective members of what we stand for and how we agree to treat each other.
• We need to be mutually understanding the parameters of work between coops and bing back regular communications.
• Regular comms should be an opportunity to discuss our successes and difficulties, a chance to advise each other and provide the peer support we may need.
• In-person events are key to building relationships and at minium a member of each coop member should be attending to maximise the potential of CoTech