Empowering Communities Through Financial Growth
The Credit Union Movement
The modern co-operative movement has its origin in Great Britain in 1844 when the economic landscape was changed as a consequence of the Industrial Revolution. Technical advances resulted in the replacement of the traditionally agrarian economy with machinery. The social landscape was impacted as political power shifted from landowners to industrial capitalists who had no interest in improving wages or working conditions.
These changes had dire economic and political consequences, particularly for the poor. Workers in traditionally agricultural jobs suffered decreased wages as mechanization made production cheaper and more efficient. Between 1838 and 1848 workers struggled in vain to secure better working conditions and have labour and property laws reformed.
By 1844 the idea of people working together and relying on each other to survive economically began to take shape leading to the formation of “friendly societies” or “co-operative societies”. Members would pool their resources together to acquire enough capital to begin a business. Goods were then sold at market price and the surplus revenue distributed to members.
Many of the co-operatives experienced difficulties in establishing themselves and therefore collapsed. In 1849 however, this changed when 29 weavers pooled their resources together and opened the first successful consumer co-operative, the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers.
Today most credit unions are still governed by the Rochdale Principles of Co-operation which include:
- Voluntary and Open Membership
- Democratic Member Control
- Member Economic Participation
- Autonomy and Independence
- Education, Training, and Information
- Co-operation Among Co-operatives
- Concern for Community
The co-operative movement formally came to the Caribbean in the 19th century when missionaries from Canada and the USA introduced the concept of credit unions in the Caribbean. However, before the introduction of credit unions, Caribbean people had informal co-operative systems for personal saving. Groups of people pooled money and took turns to collect the lump sum at regular intervals. In Antigua we call this practice “Box”. Jamaica had its first credit union in 1941, Trinidad and Tobago in the early forties. The movement spread to Dominica and other countries in the Eastern Caribbean by the late 40’s and early 50’s.
Teacher’s Co-operative Credit Union
In Antigua, the credit union type co-operative was introduced in the 1950’s by a Roman Catholic Priest, Father John Peter Sullivan. Hence, the St. Joseph’s Credit Union was the first church based credit union to have been established within Antigua. Soon to follow were the Ebenezer Credit Union, the Antigua and Barbuda Teachers Credit Union, and the Antigua and Barbuda Police Credit Union. In addition, there were a number of community-based credit unions.
Though the Antigua and Barbuda Teachers Credit Union was created in the 1950’s it was not registered until January 18th 1982, following the appointment of a full-time Registrar of Co-operatives Societies in 1980.
The Antigua and Barbuda Teachers Co-operative Credit Union was formed in 1959 under the leadership of Mr. Charles Sampson and a small group of teachers with the objective of ensuring that teachers and their families could operate their own financial savings co-operatives.
In 1989 however, the credit union recognized that a closed bond credit union could place great limitations on its future survival. Faced with this reality, the credit union made a decision to open its bond to include nurses, civil servants and other professionals, for a greater pooling of financial resources.
By 2001 as a result of the open bond, teachers constituted only 30% of the credit union membership as opposed to 70% in 1991. In light of this situation and following recommendations emanating from the Strategic Plan for 2005-2007, a decision to change the credit union’s name to reflect the general membership was adopted.
The Antigua and Barbuda Teachers Co-operative Credit Union name was changed to the Community First Co-operative Credit Union (CFCCU) which aptly expressed the credit union’s resolve to continue bringing the community closer together. Members of the then profession were assured by the then President, Mr. Vier Dublin, that a change in name did not signify a departure from the core philosophy.
Significant Events in CFCCU's History
A journey through six decades of service and growth
