0807aa7f-fd00-48af-9332-fd50585ccc25 (1) - Flipbook - Page 8
Heritage: we are a uniquely sustainable movement
Cooperation is as old as humanity.
The Cooperative movement as we know it
today began in Rochdale, England in 1844.
Life was hard in the 1840’s: jobs were
scarce; many people were hungry; and life
expectancy was shortened by endemic
diseases. People were often in debt to
shopkeepers, who sold poor quality food.
In 1844 a group of twenty-eight working
people who would become known as
the Rochdale Pioneers set up their own
shop. They wanted to be able to buy and
sell honest food at honest prices, so they
designed a unique business model based on
sharing and cooperation.
Anyone could join their Cooperative by
paying one pound regardless of their religion,
politics or job and each person had one vote.
They sold pure goods and the shop profits
were shared with the members as dividends.
The movement they started grew rapidly
and in 1863 this became the Cooperative
group.
8
OUR BLUEPRINT
Most Coops had a reading room above the
shop that members could use, as education
was seen as very important for all. Members
had their first opportunity to take part in
voting years before most people had a vote
in general elections. Women were welcome
in Cooperatives from the very beginning
and given equal voting rights. A minimum
wage was implemented in 1907, nearly
100 years before it would become law in
the Channel Islands, and Cooperatives
were often ahead of their time when it
came to issues like pensions and working
conditions.
The Jersey Cooperative Society
was formed in 1919 and the Guernsey
Cooperative Society followed in 1947.
The very first Channel Islands Coop shop
was 41 New Street, St Helier.
The Cooperative movement is still going from
strength to strength. Today, over one billion
people around the world are members of a
Coop. In the Channel Islands we have over
128,000 members.