Weaver Street Geoff: Geoff's Weavernomics Lesson #4

Monday, December 27, 2010

Geoff's Weavernomics Lesson #4 - New Year's Eve Closing Time

No more sermons as LSWSW. He's gone. But a lecture nonetheless! Why do we at WSM open restricted hours on New Year's DAY (no doubt to help us recover from revelry), when we close at normal time on the evening of the revelry itself? Yup. Letter to the General Manager of WSM, Ruffin Slater (that wicked party animal, he) ...

"Dear Ruffin,

I hope you had a good Christmas. I'm writing to ask you and the store managers to consider closing the Weaver Street stores at, say, 8.00pm on New Year's Eve this year.

It has always struck me as strange (been here five years now) that we have restricted hours on New Year's Day (I'm assuming in part to allow revelers to recover); yet we have normal closing time on the evening when the revelry is to occur - revelry which, of its nature (New Year's) pretty much ends at midnight.

I would suggest there are two special considerations this year:

1) We've had a couple of tough years at WSM. Much has been asked of us workers. And even more will be asked in this coming New Year.

2) Carrboro and Southern Village now close at 10.00pm. For some of us that means not getting out of those stores until close to 11.00pm. Taking into account dashing home and hurling on a new coat of deodorant, that has us reaching our chosen New Year's destinations just about the time Ryan Seacrest gives Jessica Simpson a New Year's kiss in Times Square. In other words, just in time to turn around and go home again.

Even though Hillsborough closes at 9.00pm, a lot of our fellow workers there live some way ways - Carrboro, Mebane. So, they need extra time to make that round trip home to freshen up.

So. What about it? It's not going to kill the finances. And it would be a nice gesture with which to begin the year. Maybe? Happy New Year to you.

All the best,
Geoff"

*******************************************

The General Manager of WSM, Ruffin Slater, has responded to my request:

"Hi Geoff,

Thanks for your suggestion.

We started publishing the holiday hours in our publications a few weeks ago, so it’s too late to make any changes to the New Year’s hours.

Thanks,
Ruffin"

Hmm. I guess we're not allowed to change our minds. Like we did when we changed the closing times of the stores in Hillsborough and Southern Village? Or like we've done all this past week, as we've changed opening and closing times, in response to the weather?

Double hmm. But, at least I got communication! And I replied:

"Ah well. Maybe next year?

Best,
Geoff"

"be the co-op!" - Why?

Hi, I'm Geoff. I work in Southern Village, on the Hot Bar.

I'm standing as a Worker-Owner Candidate for the WSM Board of Directors because I love "The Weave," and I truly believe our co-op can be so much better than it is - as a real co-op!

Whole Foods has organic food. The Farmers Market sells local. Harris Teeter has a suggestions box. Even Wal-Mart makes community donations.

Surely, as a co-op, we should be better than all of them? But, are we?

Do we really pay attention to our workers and owners?

Do we all get a vote on the big decisions that change the very nature of our co-op?

Do we really have a bottom line that deals with our social health as a co-op as well as our financial health?

Do we really pay our workers a living wage?

Do we really 'own' our co-op - not just its capital; but the way it behaves? Do we really act like an 'authentic' co-op? Do we really treat 'co-operation' as a verb, that works both ways?

If you are are an owner or worker who feels that too often the answer is 'no,' and you'd like to start hearing 'yes,' then you might find some welcome solutions in this blog, and in my 'Tasty' candidacy for the Board of WSM.

If we want it, we can make it happen. Don't leave it to others. Get involved. Own. Vote. Reclaim. Be the co-op!

I really want to hear what you are thinking. So, please feel free to stop and chat, or post a comment on this blog.

If you have an issue or a question, which you want to raise in private, please feel free to contact me at: geoffgilson@hotmail.com.

We can be better than this!

[So, what the heck does all this reference to 'Tasty' mean, anyway?...ah ha!...you gotta read to find out!]

[Please Note: The views expressed on this blog are my own, and in no way represent the official position of Weaver Street Market Co-operative.]

"be the co-op!" - How?

Should we owners and workers be consulted about and have a vote on the big changes to our co-op?

Yes. It helps to smooth implementation of those big changes by workers, and their acceptance by owners and consumers. That's Business Management 101.

Plus, we're a co-op...we own it...we're supposed to be asked! We're supposed to have a say! That's Democracy 101.

And a suggestions box or a management presentation is not democracy!

Democracy is a two-way conversation. Democracy is a vote at the end of the debate. Democracy is when we treat 'co-operation' as a verb, working both ways.

Are you a worker or owner who feels a little left out of what is happening to our "Weave"?

Do you believe that we can be better than this?

Do you want to do something about it?

If your answer is 'yes,' then you've taken the first step - you've started thinking 'yes,' rather than hearing 'no.'

Next, become an owner by speaking with your unit manager, or by contacting board@weaverstreetmarket.coop - you have to be an owner to vote.

Then, make sure to vote in the Board Elections.

And if you want to reclaim your co-op, if you want "The Weave" to be a truly 'authentic' co-op, then I invite you to vote to make Co-operation a Verb.

"be the co-op!"

[Ok. Little explanation. This section was first written back in 2007. And has been added to over the course of the five WSM Board Elections in which I have presented myself as a Worker-Owner Candidate.

I thought of deleting it, since it doesn't really make any sense. But you know? It does make sense. It represents the frustration of highlighting the same lack of democracy in our co-op, over and over and over again.

It really IS time we worked together, to reclaim our co-op, and to make it and us all we can truly be.]

You can support the 'Tasty' ("Co-operation is a Verb!") Campaign for the Board of "The Weave" by wearing this 'Who Moved My Fish?' Of-fish-ial Campaign Button.

The point is not that there wasn't some reasonable rationale for moving the seafood and meat counter out of the Carrboro store [in 2007].

It's that there was no meaningful discussion with owners and workers beforehand.

Not about moving the meat and seafood.

Nor about implementing any other aspect of the huge expansion plans that have caused, and are still causing, so much agitation and financial distress throughout "The Weave" (what I call Expansion I: 'The Debt' [2007]).

Nor about the removal of the Consumer-Owner and Senior Discounts in 2009.

Nor about extending the opening hours in 2010.

Nor about demanding that workers work 15% harder in 2011 (what I call Expansion II: 'The Overload' - just when you thought it was safe ...).

Nor about current plans to build three more stores, at a cost of millions of dollars, in the decade leading up to 2020 (Expansion III: 'The Leap Too Far').

Of course, choosing The Fish as a symbol is a metaphor. But it is a powerful metaphor.

It is a metaphor that underlines the basic co-operative principle that is repeated on the front page of every one of our monthly newsletters, namely that owners are supposed to be the primary source of all authority in our co-op.

That principle can only have meaning in practice if owners are allowed democratically to control all strategic decision-making.

I believe passionately in the notion of the democratization of decision-making, and I think I proved this with my contributions to WSM's Elections Task Force in 2008.

Now I'd welcome your support in allowing me to take this a step further, and in ensuring that the Board has on it a Director who truly believes in democratically paying attention to the cares and concerns of owners and the workforce.

Who believes passionately that 'co-operation' is a verb that should work both ways.

If you feel we can be better than we are now, then together let's make the Board take notice of us. Let's reclaim our co-op. Let's make it a truly 'authentic' co-op.