The Mondragón Corporation, one of the largest cooperative groups in the world, has lost two of its leading companies: Orona and Ulma. The partners of these two companies have decided, in separate assemblies held this Friday and by a large majority, to leave the emblematic group of Basque cooperativism and fly free. The Corporation, which to date had 80,000 employees, will lose around 10,700 workers with the departure of both companies, as well as 1,700 million euros of billing, of the around 12,000 million it bills today. The two companies, however, indicate that they will maintain the axes of the Basque cooperative model.
The departure of Orona and Ulma was consummated early in the afternoon, after the votes that followed two assemblies held in Hernani, in the case of the elevator company, and in the Donostia Arena, the Illumbe bullring , in the case of the second.
With regard to Orona's partners, 71.9% have opted to leave the Corporation, while in the case of Ulma, 80.5% have supported leaving.
Orona is one of the most powerful elevator companies in Europe and is present in 100 countries. Its headquarters are in the Gipuzkoan town of Hernani and it has 5,500 workers, of which 1,700 are cooperative members with the right to vote. Last year it had a turnover of 830 million euros.
Ulma, for its part, has its headquarters in Oñati and encompasses nine cooperatives dedicated to fields as diverse as construction, the supply of forged pipe fittings, the sale of forklifts, packaging or the construction of greenhouses. It has 5,200 workers, of which 2,800 are cooperative members with the right to vote. It has a presence in 80 countries. Last year it had a turnover of 900 million euros.
In the case of Ulma, the 2,789 members that form part of its nine cooperatives have confirmed, through their vote at the assembly held in Illumbe, their "desire to replace their current relationship with Mondragón Corporación Cooperativa, Civil Society, with a new model". as Ulma has specified.
From the company they have reported that "the agreement consists of deciding the withdrawal of the Ulma cooperatives in Mondragón and the agreements derived from it" and, at the same time, "instructing the Governing Council of Grupo Ulma S. Coop. so that try to promote future collaborations" with the Corporation "for the development of the cooperative movement", as well as to "promote the necessary regulatory development so that the contributions made up to now to the funds managed by the Mondragón Foundation can continue to be used for the development of the movement cooperative".
The president of Grupo Ulma, Lander Díaz de Gereñu, has indicated that "it is the members who determine with their vote the path that the cooperative follows" and the bodies of the Ulma cooperatives have received this Friday "a clear mandate". "We are part of the success model that the Basque cooperative model represents and we will always defend and support its values", he has maintained. In his opinion, "the best way to do it is to make Ulma a strong Cooperative Industrial Group".
Regarding Mondragón, Díaz de Guereñu has conveyed to the Corporation the Group's "maximum disposition" to "work hand in hand in all those actions that benefit the success model that we all represent".
Curiously, Ulma already opted to leave Mondragón in 1993 and operated independently for nine years, until she returned in 2002.
This is not the first time that the Mondragón Corporation has experienced a situation of these characteristics. In 2008, the Irizar bus company and the Ampo valve manufacturer, two of the most powerful companies in the Basque Country, decided to leave the group.
During the days prior to the vote, however, the president of the Mondragón group, Iñigo Ucín, wanted to downplay the drama of the eventual departure of Orona and Ulma, flatly denying the possibility that new departures could take place in the short term.
“This situation has crowded us much more. Today the union between the cooperative members of the group is greater than ever. Mondragón is doing well with them (for Orona and Ulma) and, without them, he is also doing well ”, he indicated.
Iñigo Ucín, however, had appealed in the last few hours to the cooperative members of the outgoing companies, citing various reasons for remaining in the group. The president of Mondragón stressed that the possibilities of growth are greater by "remaining united", stressed the need to attend to solidarity between cooperatives and highlighted the Corporation's ability to "reach institutions, administrations and governments at the regional, state and European", among other arguments.
It is evident, however, that this latest movement has not had an effect.
