Proposal to change Owners 1976

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The following is a proposal from the Christmas Meeting of December 1976. The acceptance of this proposal enabled the Ragnarokr leather shop to operate as if it were owned by an individual instead of as a co-operative. The Government of Canada operated a fairly generous unemployment insurance program. By accepting this proposal to change the ownership structure of the business, the craftsmen at the leather shop would not longer be self-employed and therefore could qualify for unemployment payments after satisfying a qualifying period of twenty weeks of employment. The author of this proposal is not identified. The proposal was discussed at the annual Christmas meeting and ratified by means of this agreement.

(TO BE READ AND VOTED ON BY ALL MEMBERS OF THE RAGNAROKR CO-OPERATIVE)

Proposal #2: To dissolve the existing partnership and to replace it with a proprietorship or a partnership with fewer participants, effective January 1, 1977.

Rational for this Proposal: The reason for this proposal is that by dissolving the partnership some or most of us could become employees. At present Bie, Colleen and Philip are not legally partners in Ragnarokr and therefore would not be affected by this proposal. If George, Mary or Randy wishes to participate in programs that require an employer-employee relationship then this resolution would apply and the ownership would have to be altered accordingly.

Discussion of the Proposal: My feeling is that all of us who can should participate in the Government of Canada Unemployment Insurance scheme. While the shop can not provide all of us with full-time work, all of us do earn enough every year to qualify for “pogey” (i.e. unemployment insurance payments) if we were employees. In addition to “pogey”, the Government offers free schooling plus expenses to people in the employee class and sometimes will subsidize the wages of employees as part of on-the-job retraining and apprenticeship programs. None of these programs are available to self-employed people.

It would not be necessary to make any major changes to operate as employees. Likely the terms of employment would coincide with the time when you are in Toronto watching the shop. It is not necessary to work continuously in order to participate in the employment insurance program, nor does one have to work regular hours or be paid by the hour.

Implementation of the Proposal: In order to begin, it would be necessary to designate one or more people to be the new owners, prepare Bills of Sale, register the new ownership and devise a system of payments to craftsmen which not only allows each individual to withdraw earnings as needed but which will also fit into the employee-employer relationship. Since the business is operated by proxy, it is not necessary that the new owners by very interested or have special abilities as an employer. (Unless there are two or more partners, the owner’s wife can not be an employee.)

If you would rather be a partner than an employee, please sign here:

(signed by) G. Mullins

If you would rather be an employee than a partner then please sign here:

(signed by) Philip Mullins, Mary Mullins, B. Engelen, Colleen Anderson

Please sign here if you accept this proposal:

(signed by) Philip Mullins, Mary Rauton, B. Engelen, Colleen Anderson, G. Mullins

Please sign here if you reject this proposal:

(no signatures appeared on this line)

If you have read this proposal but can not vote either for or against it, please sign here:

(signed by) R. Rauton

January 14, 1977

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