Cooperatives are businesses that are based on equitable ownership and democratic control. The different types of cooperatives are generally defined by who owns it:
Co-ops generally follow the 7 cooperative principles as outlined by the International Cooperative Alliance, which are based on original Rochdale cooperative principles of 1844.
Mondragon cooperatives have expanded these to 10 principles, which are the basis for our union co-op model.
Worker ownership is about putting people before profits rather than putting profits before people.
In the 1980s and 90s our union leveraged worker ownership of employers as we attempted to save jobs and keep factories running. While ownership oftentimes felt diffuse, in most cases, it accomplished the job of helping struggling companies and saving jobs. Once the company and the economy sufficiently recovered, those ownership shares were sold to put money back in the pockets of workers. While an important tool at the time, this experience taught us that real ownership must mean more than the value of a share.
Rather than a singular focus on maximizing short-term profits, worker ownership means investing in the long sustainability of the business and prioritizing good paying jobs.
The financial crisis and Great Recession of 2008/2009 also reminded us that far too many company shareholders and CEOs would gladly lay us off, close our factories, and send our work overseas, paying poverty wages in terrible working conditions just to save a few bucks and tweak their stock price in the short term. If we work in companies that we own, we’re not going to eliminate our jobs, lay people off, or offshore work just to boost the profit margin a half percent.
Statistics show that worker-owned companies consistently outperform traditional companies, both in profitability and productivity. Why? Because in worker-owned companies, workers are valued as people, not just statistics. This includes:
Polling shows that more people in the U.S. view unions more favorably than any time in the past 50 years, but the percentage of union members continues to decline. Why? Mostly because corporations and the officials they help get elected are extremely effective in throwing up barriers, even with legal protections like the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Traditional unions are also typically out of reach for people who work in jobs that don’t have even the minimal legal protections that laws like the NLRA provide. Co-ops can be a way to help more kinds of workers organize, take collective action, and access the benefits of labor unions.