How large cooperatives can advance decent work and responsible practices across supply chains

GENEVA (ILO News) - Across diverse sectors, large and multinational cooperative enterprises demonstrate that democratic governance and shared ownership can strengthen responsible business conduct. Their experiences show that cooperative structures promote participation, transparency and accountability, allowing supply-chain decisions to be shaped by member needs, community expectations and long-term sustainability.

These features align closely with international frameworks on decent work and responsible business conduct, including the principles reflected in ILO Recommendation No. 193 and the 2022 ILC Resolution on Decent Work and the SSE.

The following tools and practices used by large and multinational cooperatives illustrate how cooperative governance reduces decent-work deficits, strengthens supplier engagement and reinforces people-centred economic relations.

Strengthening decent work in agricultural supply chains

The National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NACF) of the Republic of Korea, representing 1,100 cooperatives and 2.1 million farmer-members, promotes decent work through programmes for young farmers, foreign seasonal workers and women farmers. It combines these with financial services aligned with decent-work objectives and with social protection, welfare and legal support for rural communities. These tools help stabilize livelihoods and reinforce resilience in agricultural supply chains.

Embedding cooperative values across enterprise groups

MONDRAGON corporation, the world’s largest group of worker cooperatives, uses integrated governance mechanisms to extend cooperative values across its 95 worker-owned cooperatives and subsidiaries. Its approach includes shared structures for social management and supply-chain oversight, participation models introduced into subsidiaries, the ATEGI Corporate Purchasing Platform for fair procurement and auditing systems that strengthen responsible business conduct. These tools promote coherence and accountability across MONDRAGON’s global operations.

Expanding social protection and income security

CIC Group in Kenya, owned by more than 1,500 cooperatives, reinforces decent work in supply chains by expanding access to social protection. CIC designs microinsurance products tailored to smallholder farmers, informal workers and low-income households. Its governance framework includes an HR and ESG Committee and cross-functional teams that monitor compliance and responsible business conduct. Training for cooperative board members further supports strong governance and member participation.

Promoting responsible sourcing and producer partnerships

Central Co-operative, one of largest consumer cooperatives in the United Kingdom, strengthens responsible supply-chain management through Power Purchase Agreements for fair renewable-energy procurement, digital engagement and traceability tools such as Lobyco and long-term partnerships with producer cooperatives, including the Malawi Partnership. The organisation has also launched a Fund for International Co-operative Development to support governance and capacity-building in cooperatives and is developing a cooperative digital ecosystem to improve information flows and collaboration.

Relevance for ongoing efforts to promote decent work in supply chains

Across these examples, large cooperatives show how democratic governance and member-based decision-making can reinforce due diligence, improve supplier relations and enhance worker protection across supply chains. These insights complement ongoing ILO work on responsible supply chains and contribute to emerging guidance and knowledge products that support decent work in priority sectors.

These experiences were shared during a webinar co-organized by the ILO COOP/SSE Unit, the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) and the International Cooperative Entrepreneurship Think Tank (ICETT) on November 12, 2025.

© ILO

© ILO