Lavorare in cooperativa. Partecipazione e qualità del lavoro in tempi di crisi. Una ricerca sui lavoratori delle cooperative di Legacoop Toscana

[Autom. eng. transl.] Cooperation has always been part of the Italian economy. It contains a world of values, traditions and knowledge that have been handed down for years through the work of the cooperators. In the study presented here we focused on a particular cross-section of this world, that of the companies associated with Legacoop. The last twenty years has marked, for cooperation, a period of great change: the average size of cooperatives has increased and with it the differences between large and small cooperatives, between more static and more dynamic companies. The gap between sectors and territories has also increased; the average number of members has increased; entrepreneurial activity has specialized; the equity structure has consolidated. In the same years Legacoop maintained, at the center of its representation, communication and support action, the transformation of the value system in relation to the changes that took place inside and outside the cooperatives. The current economic situation poses new challenges to cooperation. Social and territorial inequalities have grown dramatically and setting growth and change goals within cooperatives becomes even more difficult. Despite the recession, cooperation, while signaling the severe crisis in some sectors, shows important signs of resistance and resistance. In Italy, from 2008 to 2011, the number of cooperative enterprises grew by 9.4%, employees by 0.9%, with an average number of 19 employees per company in 2011. Similar to what happened in the rest of the country, even in Tuscany cooperation has grown and in recent years all sectors have challenged the crisis with different logics: some have focused on internal growth by increasing employment levels and turnover, others have separated some areas or acquired external companies in the same sector or in complementary sectors .