4 ms·

Forgive my naivety, but why aren't worker-owned cooperatives considered to be profitable enterprises? Taking an example of a typical factory making widgets, pr

• marcinzm 6y ago
  Presumably a worker-owned cooperative would fall under 2c and 3. >2c. An organization of people that seeks shared profit for all its members and does not exploit the labor of non-members >3. If the User is an organization with owners, then all owners are workers and all workers are owners with equal share.
  • 0xy 6y ago
    If profit is shared, it's not profit the organization can use as a buffer. The organization itself requires profit. That profit cannot be distributed without putting continuity of the organization at risk.
    • marcinzm 6y ago
      The wording is "seeks shared profit" which does not to me read as "distributes all profit." My read is "seeks shared financial gain" (in contrast to "seeks shareholder financial gain"). Even a non-profit institution is able to re-invest it's income without being a for-profit institution.
      • 0xy 6y ago
        What is the fundamental difference between a factory owned by a cooperative and a factory owned by a corporation with workers of the factory having shares in that company? The profit objectives are identical. They have to be, because the basic realities of factory processes mandate profit for ongoing operations and expansion. If that's true, then why is one excluded and not the other?
        • marcinzm 6y ago
          As I'm reading it, they would both be allowed if the corporation is owned by all the workers with equal split. I'm not seeing what in the license differentiates between the two.
        • gremlinsinc 6y ago
          Those are essentially the same thing, as long as the CEO makes the same as an entry level worker. Because the keyword is equal share. Nobody is elevated financially above another. You could still have surplus, but workers get to vote on how much that should be, and a flat-style management system still could have managers over others who manage projects, they could pitch budget proposals and vote. Then at the end of the year whatever is left over goes out equally to all (or based on # of hours worked), as a bonus or dividend payout. But most factories the CEO makes 50 million, the worker might get a 3% match in a 401k, and $15 an hour. In other words the ceo is making 300x more, and is definitely not worth that much. Why are today's CEO's better / worth more than 1980's, by 3-4x as much, when the average worker is not, even though productivity of workers has skyrocketed since the 80's?
          • bccdee 6y ago
            As I understand it, most co-ops don't even enforce totally equal pay across the board -- they just ensure that there are no extreme income discrepancies. Rewarding workers who do a great job with a bonus makes sense even from an egalitarian perspective.
• tzs 6y ago
  Would money set aside as a buffer to cover future repairs or fund a planned expansion count as profit? I'd say they are legitimate expenses no different than parts and material and rent expenses. Profit is what is left over after such expenses. Note that this is how it works for nonprofit organizations under the US tax code. E.g., nonprofit universities are allowed to accumulate a buffer without endangering their nonprofit status.