Sharing Ownership

John Abrams, from “Companies We Keep”

(image from the NYTimes Op-Ed article “Worker-Owners of America, Unite!” Found at http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/15/opinion/worker-owners-of-america-unite.html?_r=1)

Types of cooperative companiesESOPs: Employee stock ownership plan (Worker cooperatives)

Other types of cooperative companies

Producer cooperatives (Land O’ Lakes)

Groups of commodities or craft producers who collaborate in marketing or processing.

Consumer cooperatives (REI)

Consumers of products or services own the organization.

Employee stock ownership plan(ESOP)

Primarily a pension plan

An employee can invest in the company’s stocks

Do not necessarily have any participation or voice in the management of the company

Research shows that ESOPs can boost a company’s performance if it influences its culture and management

ESOP: Worker Cooperatives

Worker cooperative

Membership organizations where employees must undergo a trial period and a membership fee.

Democratic process of decision-making. (Votes vs. shares)

Varying degrees of employee ownership

Cooperative ModelsCarris Reels: Transitioned from a traditional business to a 100% worker-owned cooperative.

Principally driven, yet profit is the means of “life.”

Mondragon Corporacion Cooperativa: 150 businesses. New start-ups ea ch year, only two have ever failed.

Idea that capital is a tool, not a “residence of power.”

Shares must be sold back to the cooperative, not to outside parties.

Why shared ownership?Combine the productivity of the free-market system with better distribution of its wealth, services, and goods.

Equality and equity as core values.

Greater transparency, employees invest in the quality of their work.

Do not need to bend to the pressures of Wall Street or other external demands.

(P.S. - a nice tax break in the US.)