This morning, Ale and I arrive at the
Feria Ruiz Pineda, me in a car with Ricardo, and Ale by way of
several rapiditos,
shared taxis that augment the bus service here in Barquisimeto. We
have a meeting in the office of contabilidad (accounting), a
crisply air conditioned room ringed with twenty or more computers,
and a compañer@ at every one. On the
wall, several large pieces of butcher paper have been taped together,
and Cecosesola's overall finances have been represented in three
columns of numbers, with differently colored markers for 2010, 2011,
and the projected budget for 2012. We sit down and folks at the
computers stop their work to meet with us. A compañera
reviews the numbers on the wall: some of which track sales, others
the costs of goods and taxes, and others various funds ( health,
education, loans for other cooperatives, etc).
We talk about the structure of
accounting in a collective organization as large as Cecosesola. Even
though there is a central office for contabilidad , financial
computation and accountability happens throughout the organization at
both micro and macro levels. As I've mentioned before, inventory
happens every week at Cecosesola. This Monday, when Ricardo and I
arrived at la Feria del Centro, there were some areas of the deposito
(warehouse) left to be counted, which means I got to participate. I
was handed a legal-sized excel document already printed with the
types and brands of products kept in a particular row in the
warehouse, along with columns for quantity, unit, etc. Another
compañero was handed the same sheet.
Starting on different ends, we counted pallets of tuna, coffee, and
canned peas. At the end, we compared numbers, re-counted when they
didn't agree, and signed each others' documents.
At the same time, other teams of people
on the feria floor were counting bags of ripped, broken, and
otherwise damaged items: the loss. Each week, once inventory is done,
a rotating group of people from every work area takes the information
from the previous week's inventory and compares it to the current
week, as well as to the registered loss. They create a report called
a control, which is then presented in the meeting of the
corresponding feria. They check to make sure that sales and
loss correspond with the lists made during inventory. If they don't,
the team seeks an explanation. If none is found, or if the
explanation is theft or another situation by which Cecosesola has
lost money or product, the entire team takes responsibility by
splitting the loss and paying the collective back.
This is one level of accounting. Since
each team member has the chance to prepare these weekly reports,
everyone is able to gain competence with the organization's finances.
At the meetings where these numbers are presented, therefore, there
is a high level of understanding among attendees, and lots of group
participation while the group works towards solution-making. This
week, for example, the equipo de verduras at the Feria
del Centro experienced loss at a percentage higher than the
upper limit they'd set for themselves. The explanation: the vegetable
section had been short-staffed all weekend and many stations weren't
attended, like the yuca, which can be easily broken, or the
cilantro, which should ideally be given out by hand.
At the next level of accounting, each
worksite—the 3 ferias, the funeraria, and the Centro del
Salud—tally their own weekly reports and keep track of their yearly
budgets. This information, then, is funneled to the central office of
contabilidad , where it is
compiled into an overall budget. This team also undergoes
regular rotation of members to further distribute financial skill
around the organization.
Before long, as so many conversations
do here at Cecosesola, the conversation turns to confianza. We
talk about the many reuniones, and the amount of time people
spend in them. (For example, the reunion of the
Feria del Centro we attended on Monday went from 12:30-7 at
night, and the reunion de gestion this week featured a full
screening of Shawshank Redemption, followed by a small and large
group reflection on themes of passion, trust, and fear. The
compañer@s in contabilidad
make the case that the amount of time spent building confianza
in reunions can actually be cost effective, in that important
decisions don't have to be delayed by rifts among workers. They also
explain that everyone having the chance to take responsibility for
the organization's finances through inventory, weekly controls, and
reflections in meetings helps build confianza because people
are able to be more supportive when they have fuller understanding of
kind of job their co-workers are trying to do.
In total, the compañer@s
in contabilidad spend more than an hour and a half with
us. The talk about the expansion at la Feria Ruiz Pineda, and how
Cecosesola has been paying for it: through colaboraciones from the
community, through budgetary projections, and by funneling extra
money left over after the weekly controls have been done. We are
somewhat relieved to hear that the project, which is now some months
from completion, has been 10 years in the discussion and planning
stages. We are of course reminded of our own long path in terms of
current expansion.
All of what we hear meshes well for me
with what my understanding of OFC's staff structure evolution in
process. I leave the meeting with my head buzzing with ideas to be
explored further when we return.
In the rest of the day, we attend a
meeting of new collective members at the funeraria, and listen
to the new folks present research they've done on Cecosesola's crazy
history as a transportation cooperative, complete with tales of
protest marches to Caracas, government infiltration, sabotage, and
more.
We tour the funeraria briefly,
and learn about the mortuary, funeral, and burial services that
Cecosesola offers to its workers, as well as to the community at an
accessible price.
It rains like crazy and the streets are
flooded as we walk back to the escuela, where we will stay
tonight, and where I mean to actually go to sleep, very soon.
Check out some previous posts for new
photos, and here's a few to go with today.
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