As the Albatros Tech Cooperative Initiative, we want to share with you all of the major turning points of our story, including the fun and challenging parts. That’s why we’re starting an online journal titled Albatros Diaries. This way, we’re hoping you will get to know us better as we share our experience. Enjoy reading (:
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The First Meeting:
During the early hours of November 27, 2018 an email reached a group of people who didn’t know each other but were all working in the tech industry. It was a call; discussing problems, concerns, how similar the experiences are among everyone, being hopeful and taking action.
Date on the poster was December 22 and the location was a public working space in Kadıköy, Istanbul. Prior to the meeting, new people joined the conversation and the batch grew. Everyone was curious and excited: It was like everyone lit up in a way. After many preparations, it was finally time. Caught up in arguments, questions, and chats during coffee breaks, 4 hours flew by. Even though most of the participants did not personally know each other beforehand, they all had a lot in common. They talked, told, soared, fussed, dreamt, asked “Is it possible?”… With the excitement of this “first time”, everything was noted and the next meeting was planned. Old acquaintances caught up with each other and even people who had just met were glad. Hence, the journey for this unnamed association began.
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Criticisms & Self-criticisms and Theoretical Discussions (Background of the principles):
As quite a big group, which was formed by people working in different industries, students and the unemployed, we took a look at ourselves and the current working practices. We talked about unemployment, unjust interviews, insufficient wages/raises, performance assessments, precarious conditions, the feeling of being inadequate for the job, pressure, unjustly dismissals, retirement in graves and so on. We talked about if we can stand against these and the reasons why we failed to do so until now. We discussed what kind of a structure we can build for this change/transformation. We needed to revive the spirit of solidarity that was lost and we had to reclaim our rights to get a fair share for all of our efforts, but the working conditions had always been set up against us. To create an alternative to this and to establish the working environment of the future, we needed to come together, act with solidarity and be honest with ourselves.
As we were going to build the foundations of the structure that we would build together, we started discussing the essential ethical values which would create the environment that would realize our dreams. We had a dream where everyone had an equal right to speak, where we would work and produce together, where our door would always be open not just for in-house production, but also for cooperation and solidarity with our outer circles, where the stage was set for creativity, where we had no hierarchy and our decisions were taken not with a majority of votes, but instead with consensus. A place where understanding, listening and accepting everybody, where objections and collective decision making took the stage, where we shared the revenue earned fairly. We compiled these dreams and asked what we needed to make them real, we went deep and came out clear with our principles: equality, horizontal hierarchy, collective functioning, consensus based decision making, fair revenue sharing, decentralization, cooperation and solidarity. Now whenever we are confused, can’t make our minds, or when taking a step into our future, we know exactly where to look at.
- Creating a Remote Co-working Space:
We started to think how, as a tech cooperative, we could maintain our current structure so it would be location independent, practical and wouldn’t interfere with our lives. As we asked how we can collectively produce and discuss about many topics such as corporate identity, organizational structure, assessment o labour, future activities, concepts, research topics etc., we found ourselves distributing tasks on a board and adding the upcoming meetings to our calendars. We started moving forward as we made the process more open with instant communication channels, while we constantly evaluate our structure’s needs, slowly building it brick by brick.
Coming up next in Albatros Diary #2:
- Our Influences
- Parting Ways
- The Manifesto
Stay tuned!
As the Albatros Tech Cooperative Initiative, we want to share with you all of the major turning points of our story, including the fun and challenging parts. That’s why we’re starting an online journal titled Albatros Diaries. This way, we’re hoping you will get to know us better as we share our experience. Enjoy reading (:
-
The First Meeting:
During the early hours of November 27, 2018 a mail reached a group of people who don’t know each other but were all working in the tech industry. It was a call; mentioning problems, concerns, partnerships, similarities, hopefulness and action.
Date on the poster was December 22 and the location was a public working space in Kadıköy, Istanbul. Prior to the meeting, new people joined the conversation and the batch grew. Everyone was curious and excited: It was like everyone lit up in a way. After many preparations, it was finally time. Caught up in arguments, questions, and chats during the coffee breaks, 4 hours flew by. Even though most of the participants did not personally know each other beforehand, they all had a lot in common. They talked, told, soared, fussed, dreamt, asked “Is it possible?”… With the excitement of this “first”, everything was noted and the next meeting was planned. Old acquaintances caught up with each other and people who just met were glad. Hence, departure for this unnamed association began.
-
Criticisms & Self-criticisms and Theoretical Discussions (Background of the principles):
As quite a big group, which was formed by people working in different industries, students and the unemployed, we took a look at ourselves and the current working practices. We talked about unemployment, unjust interviews, insufficient wages/raises, performance assessments, precarious conditions, the feeling of being inadequate for the job, pressure, unjustly dismissals, retirement in graves and so on. We talked about if we can stand against these and the reasons why we failed to do so until now. We discussed what kind of a structure we can build for this change/transformation. We needed to revive the spirit of solidarity that was lost and we had to reclaim our rights to get a fair share for all of our efforts, but the working conditions had always been set up against us. To create an alternative to this and to establish the working environment of the future, we needed to come together, act with solidarity and be honest with ourselves.
As we were going to build the foundations of the structure that we would build together, we started discussing the essential ethical values which would create the environment that would realize our dreams. We had a dream where everyone had an equal right to speak, where we would work and produce together, where our door would always be open not just for in-house production, but also for cooperation and solidarity with our outer circles, where the stage was set for creativity, where we had no hierarchy and our decisions were taken not with a majority of votes, but instead with consensus. A place where understanding, listening and accepting everybody, where objections and collective decision making took the stage, where we shared the revenue earned fairly. We compiled these dreams and asked what we needed to make them real, we went deep and came out clear with our principles: equality, horizontal hierarchy, collective functioning, consensus based decision making, fair revenue sharing, decentralization, cooperation and solidarity. Now whenever we are confused, can’t make our minds, or when taking a step into our future, we know exactly where to look at.
-
Creating a Remote Co-working Space:
We started to think how, as a tech cooperative, we could maintain our current structure so it would be location independent, practical and wouldn’t interfere with our lives. As we asked how we can collectively produce and discuss about many topics such as corporate identity, organizational structure, assessment o labour, future activities, concepts, research topics etc., we found ourselves distributing tasks on a board and adding the upcoming meetings to our calendars. We started moving forward as we made the process more open with instant communication channels, while we constantly evaluate our structure’s needs, slowly building it brick by brick.
Coming up next in Albatros Diary #2:
- Our Influences
- Parting Ways
- The Manifesto
Stay tuned!