What is the Magic Kitchen
The MK serves good and affordable food while creating decent jobs to individuals from marginalized communities. The Magic Kitchen of Exarcheia is a restaurant that sells vegan street food with inspiration from the street food of Turkey, while the Magic Kitchen Social Collaborative Enterprise can expand in the future to include more cuisines and countries.
Good food is tasty food, but it is also food that is produced sustainably and responsibly towards the human and non-human environment, food that is healthy for the humans who consume it as well as unharmful for all those in the environment. Decent jobs are jobs where workers are treated with respect and equity, receiving a wage that enables them to cover their life expenses.
The MK can expand its operations by opening new restaurants or additional units for its operations, in current or other addresses, in order to meet its mission and reach its objectives. The MK can also engage in activities to promote its products, its collaborative business model, and its objectives.
The legal & administrative framework of the Magic Kitchen
The Magic Kitchen is administered by a General Coordinator who is accountable towards the employees as well as towards the Advisory Board of the Magic Kitchen. The Advisory Board of the MK is selected among people, members or non-members, who align with the values of the MK and who commit to work on its long-term existence and development, and have a relevant resource or know-how that they can offer
THE VALUES
The Magic Kitchen is an economic and commercial enterprise. It remains sustainable through the income it generates from the sales of its products. It seeks to generate profit and to create surplus value, as this is necessary for the viability of a commercial enterprise. Any profit that incurs after the fair remuneration of work and responsibilities, the covering of expenses and periodical debt repayments, is kept as savings and/or used for the expansion of the enterprise to keep meeting its objectives.
Beyond monetary value, the Magic Kitchen has the objective of creating other economic values:
Through its functioning, the Magic Kitchen seeks to promote:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Activities of the Magic Kitchen
The Magic Kitchen currently organizes the following activities:
a
b
c
d
Organization of work and roles within the Magic Kitchen
An employee of the Magic Kitchen is any person who works in the Magic Kitchen and contributes to its functioning. Work relations are subject to the legislation of the state of Greece.
A member of the Magic Kitchen is any person who commits to long-term stable engagement with the Magic Kitchen, for helping the Magic Kitchen function in line with its values, and the healthy survival of the enterprise and its workers.
Employees become members of the cooperative after a designated period of trial, which cannot be less than a year and can be extended for another year if deemed necessary by the current members. The process of becoming a member is not automatic and has to do with the assessment of the suitability of each individual by other members. In exceptional circumstances, employees may be asked to become members before the end of the trial period. The membership applications of individuals who do not have a work relationship with the Magic Kitchen, is assessed on a case-by-case basis.
If a member is absent from their roles and responsibilities for an unreasonable period of time, if they act in ways that obstruct the functioning of the cooperative, or if they repeatedly violate the values and rules outlined by this Charter, they may lose their status as member.
Employees either work inside the Kitchen helping the production, preparation and service of the food, or do auxiliary tasks such as admin, coordination, social media etc.
Employees are expected to be present in the Magic Kitchen during their working hours, available for work, following the necessary hygiene requirements and not under the influence of drugs or substances. Employees with specific roles that do not require being present at the physical space of the MK, are expected to carry out their duties within the framework and calendar that has been set for their work. Employees who repeatedly fail in their duties and responsibilities are held accountable, and in case of repeated failure of duties and responsibilities, or repeated breaching of the common rules outlined by this Charter, an employee can be dismissed.
Employees in the Kitchen need to be appropriately dressed for work, wearing work clothes or aprons, and following rules of hygiene and cleanliness decided upon by the Assembly or by the Kitchen team. Workers should not enter the Kitchen space outside of their hours of work, or without the appropriate work clothes and hygiene precautions.
In case someone cannot come to their shift, or wants to change it with another shift, it is their responsibility to ensure that another worker of the Cooperative will be able to replace them. If a worker wants to take vacation, they need to inform the group beforehand. Not showing up for work without notice is considered a failure of responsibility. In cases of force majeure such as sudden sickness, accident, death of a loved one, arrest by security forces, the worker is expected to inform the team as quickly as possible.
If an employee is repeatedly failing in one’s duties and responsibilities without force majeure, the employee’s shifts can be reduced, or their role can be changed. Continued failure despite collective attempts, or lack of endeavor by the side of the employee for improvement, can lead to termination of employment.
The Team of the Magic Kitchen is made up of all employees of the Magic Kitchen. The Team communicates through online platforms and if there is need, in an Assembly of MK workers. MK Assembly of Workers meets upon request, at least every six months. MK Assembly of Members meets at least once a year in a General Assembly. The Advisory Board meets as regularly as necessary, at least twice a year. The coordinator ensures the communication between these different bodies.
The Member’s Assembly elects and approves the general coordinator (GC) every two years. The coordinator, with guidance from the Advisory Board and the Members Assembly appoints work groups and responsibilities. The GC elects the coordinators or teams that are responsible for making decisions, it ensures the accountability of responsible groups and individuals through its discussions.
Strategic decisions and long-term planning are done by the Advisory Board led by the GC. The Assembly of Members convenes at least once a year to approve the yearly budget
and objectives, but may convene more often in case of need. The Assembly of Workers convenes as often as necessary and can be invited to convene by anyone joining the Assembly. It convenes at least twice a year.
In the assemblies (if more than 6 people) there is a facilitator and a note-keeper who takes notes, who may or may not be the same person. Assemblies can be held in different languages spoken by the team, and separately in language groups if simultaneous translation cannot be ensured. Notes are shared with the relevant bodies in English after the Assembly in a google doc, and saved in the Google Drive of the Magic Kitchen.
The MK is administered through work roles and work teams of designated responsibilities.
Relations between individuals working in the Magic Kitchen
SEXIST
DISCRIMINATORY
and offensive speech and acts are not welcome in the MK. Words and deeds of such quality are subject to sanctions. People are invited to not make jokes which they know are provocative for another person in the workspace.