Asiapro Cooperative: An ingenious development in Philippine labor and management

Asiapro Cooperative, a multi-purpose cooperative of self-employed and non-regular workers and professionals is a welcome development in Philippine business. It has pioneered the concept of self-employed worker-cooperative by modifying and eliminating the disadvantages brought about by the current status of employer-employee relationship. It introduces the concept of transforming from "employees" to becoming "entrepreneurs," or more appropriately, what they call as "coopreneurs," having bonded together in a cooperative enterprise.

Asiapro Cooperative was founded in 1999 by Leo G. Parma, an HR specialist who saw the need to protect the rights of laborers who are not regularly employed. On a new global economy where competitiveness among businesses is fierce, companies have resorted to speed in production, efficiency in labor, cost effectiveness, and innovation.

One of the major consequences of this trend was the hiring of contingent and temporary workers employed on a given limited time by companies. The problem on this kind of arrangement is that workers find themselves on the losing end with this practice. They are denied with a stable livelihood, better income, and the benefits being enjoyed by a regular employee. Even employment agencies could not provide these kinds of benefits since the workers are employed only on a short-term basis.

Employers have to contend with the recurring cost of recruiting and training new workers after every contractual period. Based on recent labor data, there are over 20 million workers in the informal labor sector in the country. Most of these workers are marginalized casual, contractual, seasonal, temporary, and non-regular employees. The formal labor sector consists of only about five million regular employees where roughly about two million belong to organized unions. To offset the impact of higher labor costs, our labor market must strive to deliver higher levels of productivity, quality, and skills — the characteristics of a more motivated workforce. This becomes even more important for the contingent and non-regular workers since they make up the bulk of the workforce.

In addressing these pressing problems, Asiapro Cooperative offers one ingenuous solution. Each member enjoys the status of a self-employed worker, and since a self-employed worker is not an employee, therefore transactions are not carried out in the context of employee-employer relationship. They become co-owners of the cooperative and they engage in contractual assignments with the cooperative serving as the contracting party.

Aside from the usual benefits of outsourced labor such as flexibility, lower administrative costs, and the ability to focus on core business activities, the principal benefit of contracting self-employed worker-cooperative members is the ability to keep workers beyond the limits set for contractual employees. With this kind of setup, companies can now re-hire workers whom they think can contribute fully to the productivity of the company even without regularizing them. In Asiapro Cooperative’s experience, companies get peak performance from worker-owners because they have an entrepreneurial instead of an employment mind-set, and are better motivated, more satisfied, and loyal workers because they belong to and co-own a cooperative enterprise.

In only seven years, Asiapro Cooperative has proven this ingenious system successful. As of May 2006, membership had exceeded 18,500 servicing more than 120 customers nationwide. It started with only 66 members in 1999. The board of the company is also composed of the members. Earnings of members for their work contribution to the cooperative are at par or better than their counterparts in the market. And unlike typical contractual workers, Asiapro Cooperative members enjoy standard worker benefits, as well as additional benefits such as life and accident insurance, hospitalization, savings and loan program, provident plan, and of course, dividends and surplus sharing.

The clients of Asiapro Cooperative come from a variety of industries – manufacturing, distribution, agribusiness, property management, construction and utilities, hotel and food services, financial services, personal care, and retailing. Asiapro Cooperative also pursues outsourcing contracts and partnerships in such areas as packing, delivery and distribution, manufacturing, and hygiene and housekeeping services.

The concept of the self-employed worker-cooperative is a relatively new one, and there is much to be done in terms of being understood, accepted, and supported by different sectors of society such as labor, government institutions, industries, communities, and even the cooperative movement. The self-employed worker-cooperatives believe that they have the legal and moral foundations to exist and pursue their dreams of transforming marginal income workers into a new middle class.