THT WORKER'S CO-OPERATIVE OF AISSAT IDER"
By Pierre Frank
In order to prepare for the socialist future of Algeria, it is essential to establish a number of strongholds today which can serve in the struggle against the capitalist sectors, both foreign and domestic, The installation and organization of such strongholds take as their point of departure the "biens vacants"; the property -- grounds and buildings, both industrial and agricultural -abandoned on a massive scale by the "pieds noirs" (European colondalists born in Algeria).
Among the experiments under way, I should like to present a brief appreciation of a co-operative in the town of Blida named "The Worker's Co-operative of Aissat Idir," which is probably the furthest advanced although it was established only a little more than three months ago.
The region is one of the most favorable for such an experiment -~ the fertile plain of the Mitidja, far enough away from Algiers to avoid the difficulties entailed by stiff competition, close enough to enjoy maximum aid from the government. +
The inspirer of the operation, Boudissa Safi, is one of the leaders of the Algerian trade unions. He named the enterprise after the Algerian trade-union leader Aissat Idir, who was murdered by French imperialisn.
The most striking feature of the work of the co-operative is that it is not governed by a narrow concept. Boudissa Safi began with a sweeping view of the future that he would like to assure Algeria. The co-operative includes a whole series of enterprises which, in Blida and its surroundings and even farther, were abandoned by the pieds noirs. All these enterprises have been brought under ‘a single «control and a single ain.
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The co-operative covers an impressive number of projects. Here is a by-no-means inclusive list: Twenty farms, covering 12,500 acres, a quarry, a clay pit, a brickyard, a construction firm, a cloth manufactury, a soft-drink plant, retail food stores, including butcher shops, a printing plant, a hotel and restaurant, various shops (hardware, etc.), all the movie houses of Blida, and a co-operative of fishermen at Castiglione about thirty kilometers from Blida.
This ig not a blueprint, existing only on paper; everything I have mentioned is already functioning. Moreover, the directors of the co-operative hope to widen their operations as needs and opportunities arise.
The combining of all these various enterprises which formerly belonged to individual proprietors, enables the co-operative to operate to a& great extent on its own resources. The clay pit provides materials for the brickyard; it in turn supplies the construction business; the farms provide products needed by the retail stores, etc. The co-operative, of course, must buy some raw materials; such products, for example, as cement, yarn for the textile plant, etc.
Bach distinct enterprise, each farm, has a management committee ("somite de gestion"). The project as a whole is directed by a kind of central managenent committee -- an administration committee ("somite d'administration”) of some twenty members. It would not be truthful, of course, to assert that everything runs smoothly, that every single management committee functions normally.
Wages are set in accordance with officially established norms. The ceiling is 650 francs ($130) a month. It is scarcely necessary to sey that the men who created this co-operative are not personally interested in financial gain and do not keep track of the hours they put in.
Moreover, from the very beginning they were faced with the problem of making things run in a profitable way, all the more so pince the pieds noirs, here as everywhere in Algeria, stopped necessary upkeep work as soon as they realized that defeat was inevitable. Consequently the problem of re-equipment was acute.
That the co-operative, in which more than 500 people now have permanent employment, has begun to prove itself can be seen from two facta which happen to have no relationship. First, thanks to the co-operative's stores, food prices have dropped appreciably in Blida, Secondly, shortly after it was launched, the co-operative was granted bank credits. .
The operation that was begun is moving ahead; each day sees new undertakings. Difficulties are not lacking, of course. Among these, one of the worst is the shortage of trained personnel. But friends of New Algeria are joining the Worker's Co-operative of
‘In the city of Blida, this co-operative is already a force. It will not fail to make its influence felt as its activities widen, passing from the sphere of production and distribution to culture, as its organizers intend shall soon be the case.
Aissat Idir can even become an important school for the education of personnel to manage the numerous "vacated properties."
Feb. 16, 1963:
HELP