Some general questions and answers concerning the Italian social coops are presented as an enclosure to this good practice example
WHERE
La Ginestra social co-operative is an Italian type B social co-operative (A social co-operative dealing with work inclusion of disadvantaged persons) offering employment opportunity services for disabled people. It is situated in northern Italy, Camposampiero. It was established in 2001. The turnover is 600,000 €, the main part (510,000) coming from relations with private companies.
Partnership model with private companies in Italy
La Ginestra has 29 employees, consisting of 23 disadvantaged individuals, of whom 19 are labourers in the industrial business and 4 in the greenhouse business, and 6 non-disadvantaged individuals, all employed in the administrative/managerial area (2 agro-food experts, 1 IT expert, 1 lorry driver in charge of logistics, 1 educator and 1 person in charge of assistance). 80% of disadvantaged have mental disabilities.
The services offered by the co-operative are assembly, packing, counting of items/parts, production of vegetable and flowers, animal raising, and employment opportunities.
WHY
The regional law no. 68 of 1999 compels private companies to hire disadvantaged people in proportion to the total number of their employees. However, the private companies did not have the proper competencies to do this, and not even the necessary cultural approach to deal with diversity. In 1999 numerous companies turned to Il Graticolato, a type A co-operative, for assistance. The main goal of this type A co-operative had always been the social integration of the disabled and ex-convicts. The members decided to establish a new type B co-operative, La Ginestra, in March 2001, which could share some spaces and services with Il Graticolato.
From the point of view of the people with disabilities, there is a growing demand for employment opportunities and a need to proceed in a more systematic way with their vocational integration.
HOW
The private companies in partnership with La Ginestra are totally 27 in the following fields: metallurgic-mechanics, electronic-technical, plastic, construction, furniture and agriculture. Most of them are well-renowned medium-sized enterprises that work in Italy and abroad. Most assignments come from the Facco company (17% of the turnover), Ge.fa company (12%), Berti company (8%) and Filippi company (6%).
The greenhouse business produces for the two co-operatives, for restaurants and for a number of private people. Moreover, as the co-operative mainly cultivates 3-4 kinds of flowers, these are exchanged with other co-operatives for partnership projects.
Solid collaboration between La Ginestra and a large number of production companies is based on trust and sharing of interests for social-related issues. On the one hand these companies give the co-operative work assignments on a quite regular basis and support it, on the other hand the co-operative helps its partners comply with the regional law no. 68 of 1999. The private company partnerships started out with informal contacts and consolidated later on through a clear managerial strategy. The quality is based on the observance of a certified quality system, as well as on the attention paid to accepting labour according to the possibilities of the employed disabled people.
High-quality working performance yields good production results and thus favours work assignments. The pieces are checked one by one and even the tiniest mistakes are corrected. Besides, La Ginestra ensures flexibility and availability to the partners, meeting their needs and ensuring a complete service which also includes the transportation of the products from the co-operative to the requesting company. The companies have exchanged the favour by assigning work even in hard times. This exchange creates a synergy that binds the partners together and makes the relations more solid and lasting.
In order to encourage these relations, the co-operative involves its partners as much as possible, also with moments of celebration, events and communication, to make them feel part of its activities and results. The relations are supported with different initiatives that aim to involve the partners and share the co-operative’s goals and results, including local festivals, film showing, dinners and invitations to see how the co-operative is organised as well as the distribution of the “Il Gabbiano” paper (1,000 copies printed).
The partners themselves, being sensitive when it comes to social-related issues, not only collaborate with the co-operative, but also support and organise initiatives themselves in favour of the co-operative, by promoting fund raises and contributions.
Other stakeholders in La Ginestra’s partnership network are:
- The banks that have helped with the financial administration of the laboratory’s internal productions and have funded the construction of the co-op’s new building
- The local municipalities, which present the users and deal with the practices
- The education institutions and structures, which send their students to the co-operative for internships
- The families of the users, who promote and support the co-operative’s services
- Networks of the third sector, which supply education services and legal, fiscal and tax counselling
Experiences
The collaboration has enabled the La Ginestra to expand and develop new projects, such as the greenhouse business, which has also a therapeutic role for the disadvantaged people, opening of a vocational training centre and participation in international co-operation projects.
Enclosure 1: Full La Ginestra case study (PDF)
Enclosure 2: Questions and answers concerning the Italian social co-operative system (PDF)
For more information: Il Graticolato, President: Mr. Paolo Tosato, legal headquarters: Via Pugnalin, 2/a, 35010 Arsego di San Giorgio delle Pertiche (PD), Italy; operative headquarters: Via Borgo Padova, 106, 35012 Camposampiero (PD), Italy