Union Perspectives

There are other alternatives to banking with the corporately owned big banks that screw over the little guy. Some of these alternatives are being used around the world and in a couple of places in the U.S. Alternative currency keeps local cash locally. Some foreign cities where this is being used is Basel, Switzerland, Nantes, France, and Bristol and Brixton, England. The Banque WIR, an alternative to the Swiss franc, has been using its own currency, the WIR, since 1934. Nantes created its own currency based on the WIR. Also, there are the Bristol pound and the Brixton pound used as alternative versions of the British pound. Here in the U.S., there is Ithaca, New York, called the Ithaca Convertible, one Ithaca dollar equals one U.S. 1 dollar. Then there is the Deli Dollars that arrived in 1989, started by Frank Tortoriello, a deli owner sold $10 for $8 to be used in his refurbished deli; followed by Massachusetts’ Berkshire Farm preserve notes or BerkShares in the early 1990s. Sa...