Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society (ULCCS) Ltd., a century old labour co-operative in Kerala, India, has been announced as a ‘Global Cooperative Cultural Heritage Site’ by International Co-operative Alliance. It was announced in a ceremony in the Itamaraty Palace in Brasília, headquarters of Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and an architectural masterpiece by Oscar Niemeyer. The ULCCS, along with the Dr. Verghese Kurien Museum of Amul in Anand, Gujarat, is included as one among the 31 sites of global significance to the cooperative movement, of which 7 are from Asia.
ICA officially launched the Cooperative Cultural Heritage Platform along with the first World Map of cooperative cultural heritage sites illustrating how cooperation has shaped culture, education and livelihoods across generations. The new platform is an initiative in safeguarding and celebrating the cooperative movement’s living cultural legacy. The page culturalheritage.coop/aboutTangiblePage/ulccs-india on the platform introduces ULCCS.
“Cooperatives are not only enterprises; they are bearers of culture, history, and identity,” said Ariel Guarco, President of the ICA. “With this global map, we celebrate cooperation as humanity’s shared heritage, linking people and communities through solidarity and self-help.”
The inaugural 2025 edition highlights 31 founding heritage sites from 25 countries across all regions, from the birthplace of modern cooperation in Rochdale (UK) and the Monumento ao Cooperativismo in Nova Petrópolis (Brazil) to the Federation of Southern Cooperatives (USA), Moshi Co-operative University (Tanzania), and the ILO Cooperative, Social and Solidarity Economy Unit (Switzerland). The map was built together with ICA Members the Organisation of Brazilian Cooperatives (OCB) and the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) of India, through close collaboration with the ICA Global Office.
“These sites are living classrooms of solidarity,” said Márcio Lopes de Freitas, President of OCB. “They show that cooperation is both history and horizon a cultural force that continues to build fairer societies.”
"I am delighted to share that NCDC has partnered on the technical front in developing this global platform and website, contributing to the documentation and showcase of the timeless legacy of cooperation for the world to see," said Pankaj Bansal (IAS) Managing Director, NCDC.
A number of high-level dignitaries attended the event, including Vanderley Tiger, Secretary of Family Farming and Agroecology; Ambassador Maria Laura de Rocha, the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Mr Rodrigo Lima, Special Advisor to the Director's Office (UNESCO).
ULCCS is a 100-year-old infrastructure developers and one of the best diversified primary cooperatives in the world hailing from a rural pocket in Malabar region of Kerala that has proven its mettle by establishing a niche of its own in the infrastructure development in Kerala. It provides direct jobs to over 18,000 people with an annual turnover of Rs. 2334 crores.
It was ranked as the world’s second largest co-operative, under the category of Industry and Utilities cooperatives, for 3 years consecutively by the World Cooperative Monitor (WCM). ULCCS, the first primary cooperative from India having a permanent membership of ICA, is also an ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001 certified organisation.
ULCCS has diversified into UL Cyberpark – the only IT Park in the world owned by common labourers, UL Technology Solutions, Sargaalaya Arts & Crafts Village, Kerala Arts and Crafts Village Thiruvananthapuram, USphere – the futuristic construction wing, UL Education, UL Agriculture, UL Housing, MatterLab – the largest and modern material testing lab in South India, UL Disaster management and Rescue Operation, ULCCS Charitable and Welfare Foundation and the consultation firm UL Insight for providing professional and blue-collar jobs. It also runs the Indian Institute of Infrastructure and Construction under the Department of Labour, Government of Kerala.
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