Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1949-03-18
Food For
Thought
By Homer l.. Hylton
of Toledo Scale Unit
Dear Consumer and
Fellow Worker:

Dear consumer ana
Fellow Worker:
lid YOU fail to attend the re-
~ cent COOP Fair sponsored
by the Toledo Consumers Co
operatives, Inc? If you did, the
blame can hardly be placed on
those persons who gave much
thought, time and effort to its
conception and operation. The
Fair held in the Moose Building
provided an unusual opportunity
to acquaint the public with CO.
OP high quality goods at favor
able price and to convey the idea
behind the Consumers Co-opera-
tive Movement. Some came to
sneer but remained to cheer.
The question has been asked
If future COOP fairs are in the
plans. The goal, now, is the op-
.ening of retail warehouse type
COOP super-market with a gas
station selling COOP labeled
auto products as an adjunct. Two
thousand members are needed
for the first store. Membership
lis open to everyone and requires
the purchase of one share of
Glass "a" Common Stock at
twenty-five dollars. Such mem
bership entities each member to
one vote, the right to hold office,
provides capital to stock the
store, and makes each member
an equal partner in the bust
ness.
To say the COOP idea is good
is not enough. Concerted action
is vitally important. One of the
surest ways of not successfully
launching this enterprise is to
wait for the other fellow to do
it. There will always be those
people ready and willing to
claim the rewards made possible
by the work and money of 9TH
ers.
You think the COOP idea is
good, but might say you do not
have twenty-five dollars for a
membership. However, some
how we've managed to get the
each to pay for every profit
taking store in Toledo but own
no part of them, nor do we have
a voice in their control. The CO.
OP offers a means to correct this
undemocratic and economically
unSound situation. Join the CO.
OP and get the things you need
at cost by eliminating the profit.
Can we get ahead when the gen.
eral increases in the prices of the
things we buy overbalances the
increases we receive in the pay
envelope? The answer is an en-
phatic NO! On the economic
front we've organized Labor Un-
mons and Credit Unions in an
effort to raise our economic
level. Let's be consistent and
lenghten our battle lines by or
ganizing our buying power. Let's
be done with the constant grip
ing about the high cost of living,
and in a democratic fashion, do
something about it. We can if
we have the will to do it. The
Chamber of Commerce will not
do the job for us.
Over one hundred years ago
the poverty-stricken Rochdale
Weavers had the vision and tenn
Gritty to come up with set of
rules for an entirely new method
of doing business the Co-opera-
tive way. They were simple
rules, but they laid history. The
word revolutionary" in the pre-
ceding sentence does not con-
note the violent overthrow of
the government. Consumers Co.
operatives were not Matched be-
hind the walls of the Kremlin.
If you would like know
more about CO-OPS, SIX some
one who knows, read COOP
pamphlets. Books on the subject
are available in the public Ii
braries. Drop in at the COOP
Center, sos Adams ST., phone
FA 5181, or better still JOIN
NOW.
Frank johnson,
Tool Rm.-Chairman
Art Baker, Enamel
Tim Hartigan, Gen'l Machine
John Smith, Stock Room
Homer L. Hylton, Methods
Herbert Davis, Spec. Mach.