This is a long post, but I'm interested to hear what you guys think. Tried to give context for those who don't know about co-ops.
I am an individual who is very interested in the cooperative enterprise model as an alternative to traditional profit-driven, extractive, and exploitative business models. The Statement on the Cooperative Identity states that a cooperative is an “autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-controlled enterprise.” These enterprises exist within our capitalist system, but generally use profit as a means to reach their “ends,” which is the mission of the cooperative (to meet the common needs and aspiration defined by it's membership). Membership in any cooperative is open and voluntary, and every member is entitled to one vote (you can't buy more than one share and have a bigger say). The cooperative enterprise model can be applied to virtually any type of business, the basic idea is that the business (whatever form it takes) is owned and controlled by those who utilize its services. There are many present-day and historical examples of communities achieving great things and meeting needs for themselves using the cooperative enterprise model (i.e. consumer owned grocery stores, bulk purchasing co-ops, credit unions, mutual insurance, consumer owned utilities, agricultural cooperatives, worker-owned co-ops etc).
I could go into a lot more detail, but I'm trying not to write a novel here…
Within the cooperative sector, I am particularly interested in worker ownership. Groups of people that may not have the means to start a business otherwise can come together to work towards common aspirations and collectively meet their needs for income. Groups of employed people are able to purchase existing companies that may be up for sale or being shut down. For many aging business owners, selling their businesses to the people who work there is a viable solution with the cooperative enterprise model.
I am a worker-owner at a fairly small company (20-30 employees) that was purchased by a group of workers who formed a cooperative in 2018 when the founding owner decided it was time to retire. I was not one of the founding owners of the cooperative, but I started working there a few years after the workers bought it. We have our issues, but overall we can run the company pretty well, we made it through the pandemic, and it looks like we're going to be profitable this year. If we keep up our current trajectory, our worker-owners will get profit-sharing in the form of dividends based on hours worked. Everyone that works here has the opportunity to become an owner (and you can't be an owner if you don't work here), but not everyone chooses to buy-in. The co-op is led by a board of directors, which is a group of worker-owners that are elected by other worker-owners to represent them and oversee the heath and direction of the company. Our governance model is somewhat hierarchical, but other worker co-ops use models like sociocracy.
Even though we're worker-owned this is by no means a perfect workplace. We have our share of burnout, a lack of HR support, a lack of training, interpersonal conflict, constant fires to put out, etc. Many of our owners, myself included, find it to be extremely stressful and draining. I mean, work is work and apparently it sucks even when you own the business.
The interesting thing about this model, I think, is that it's the people involved that make it what it is. It's really the product of a hive mind. If a system or a structure isn't working, there are ways to make a positive change. No health benefits? A group of worker owners can form a committee to investigate our options, explore financial viability, create a proposal, and bring it to the board. Unhappy with the wage structure? Same deal – as long as things work out for the bottom line, to keep the company stable and healthy, let's make ourselves more money and give ourselves benefits. You're not stuck under the thumb of a corporation, you're making decisions and governing with your co-workers. It's not easy, but we can usually come to some sort of agreement together.
I also want to mention that there are other forms of employee ownership, such as employee ownership trusts (EOTs) and employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). EOTs and ESOPs are the most common forms of employee ownership in the US, but in my mind can be somewhat problematic. I believe any form of employee ownership is a step in the right direction. However, EOT and ESOP companies are not often democratically controlled by the workers, and their ends are not focused on the needs of the employees. Those forms of employee ownership are generally more tokenistic and do not stray far from how business is done in our traditional capitalist system.
That being said, some ESOPs choose to be very democratic, and some co-ops fall into the same patterns as their corporate counterparts. I'm not saying worker co-ops are a solution to the innate problems associated with “work” in human society, but I've found the idea and the case studies to give me hope in a world where the reality is that we have to work to live. We can't change much about the necessity for work and income, but we can influence the conditions of it.
I think there is potential for worker owned cooperatives (and all forms of cooperatives) to really benefit individuals and communities across the world over time when implemented on a wider scale. Already, the co-op movement has shaped history. Outside of the US, co-ops are more common. The cooperative enterprise model is not widely taught in US schools, and most people I've met don't know much (or anything) about it.
So, I'm interested to know what this sub thinks about worker-ownership, if y'all know about worker-owned co-ops or have experience with them, or any other thoughts you have on the subject. A lot of people seem to be feeling really hopeless and desperate because of our fucked up system, and we stand in solidarity together on this subreddit and with our co-workers. I'm suffering with my mental health and overwork and I'm finding hope through learning about co-ops. I hope the information I've shared gives some people hope that things could somehow be different.
Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.