> If the workers had banded together and put their efforts into creating a path to become part-owners of the businesses they worked in (and taken on some of the

> If the workers had banded together and put their efforts into creating a path to become part-owners of the businesses they worked in (and taken on some of the risk involved in that) they'd have made real progress over the last however long. Instead they put their efforts into fighting for wage raises and have basically achieved nothing... Unless that part-ownership comes with actual control over the workplace it's a worse deal than the wage increases (which you can just re-invest in a more diverse portfolio anyways, if all you're after is the type of financial gains typically seen through investment). Stockholder-employees are in double jeopardy, since they can lose both savings and income if the company takes a tumble. This is even more perilous for the typical wage worker, who is way closer to the bone than your typical big capital investor. To make this level of risk worth it you need (a lot) more than 1-share=1-vote, which is usually how part-ownership works in the US, otherwise you're going to get clowned by the 51% as soon as the chips are down. Here's an example of what happens to workers in the US who've pursued this model: https://labornotes.org/2009/05/employee-stock-ownership-not-control https://labornotes.org/2009/05/employee-stock-ownership-not-... I would point to Germany as a place where this is done way better, but importantly there are regulations in place that force management to cede a big chunk of tangible power to labor unions (and even non-union workers): https://blog.dol.gov/2024/09/18/labor-management-cooperation-in-germany#:~:text=German%20law%20not%20only%20enforces,how%20these%20companies%20are%20run%20 https://blog.dol.gov/2024/09/18/labor-management-cooperation.... Co-ownership is definitely viable IMO, but it needs to paired with legitimate co-management to succeed, otherwise workers are just taking on way more risk than they can reasonably survive, and without any assurances that someone is actually looking out for their interests when times get lean.