Worker cooperative
A worker cooperative is a cooperative owned and self-managed by its workers. This control may be exercised in a number of ways. A cooperative enterprise may mean a firm where every worker-owner participates in decision making in a democratic fashion, or it may refer to one in which managers and administration is elected by every worker-owner, and finally it can refer to a situation in which managers are considered, and treated as, workers of the firm. Definition of worker cooperative[edit] Many definitions exist as to what qualifies as a workers' cooperative. Workers' cooperatives also follow the Rochdale Principles and values, which are a set of core principles for the operation of cooperatives. Even though there is no universally accepted definition of a workers' cooperative, they can be considered to be businesses that make a product, or offer a service, to sell for profit where the workers are members or worker-owners. Internal structure[edit] History of worker cooperatives[edit]
Guild socialism
Guild socialism is a political movement advocating workers' control of industry through the medium of trade-related guilds "in an implied contractual relationship with the public".[1] It originated in the United Kingdom and was at its most influential in the first quarter of the 20th century. It was strongly associated with G. D. History and development[edit] Guild socialism was partly inspired by the guilds of craftsmen and other skilled workers which had existed in England during the Middle Ages. In 1914, S. The guild socialists "stood for state ownership of industry, combined with ‘workers’ control’ through delegation of authority to national guilds organized internally on democratic lines. Ernst Wigforss—a leading theorist of the Social Democratic Party of Sweden—was also inspired by and stood ideologically close to the ideas of Fabian Society and the guild socialism inspired by people like R. The theory of guild socialism was developed and popularised by G. See also[edit] [edit] G.
Can co-operatives crowd out capitalism? -- New Internationalist
In the eyes of the mainstream media and the high priests of the free market, Argentina just doesn’t get it. This past May, the country was savaged by the international business press for nationalizing the Spanish-owned oil company, YPF. Scarcely mentioned was the fact that Argentina’s oil and gas industry was only ‘privatized’ in the late-1990s under pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other hardline enforcers of then fashionable neoliberal economic policies. Back in 2001, the knives were out again. Skilled and in control: an Argentine co-op member thins dough for tarts at a recovered bread factory in Buenos Aires. With inflation raging and tens of thousands of workers on the streets, the government finally called it quits, defaulting on its debt and devaluing its currency. It didn’t happen. But a significant part of its success is rooted in Argentina’s rich history of co-operatives. It was by no means an easy road. Radical thinkers Old orthodoxies hold firm
"Unsourcing" - does free labour ultimately require free goods too?
Crowdsourcing has been discovered by the corporate sector, The Economist tells us, as a great way to turn consumers into free labour. "Unsourcing", is the McKinsey-speak for the method pioneered by Wikipedia (and adopted by openDemocracy). But what are the system-wide implications of this move? A recent ‘Babbage’ column in The Economist writes about the phenomenon of ‘unsourcing’. “Some of the biggest brands in software, consumer electronics and telecoms have now found a workforce offering expert advice at a fraction of the price of even the cheapest developing nation...it is their customers themselves...." Here then is a specific claim that ‘crowdsourcing’, a form of commons-based production that has permitted content such as Wikipedia and platforms such as Mozilla to internet users for ‘free’, simultaneously permits corporations to reduce labour costs (variable capital) therefore boosting profits by essentially laying off paid workers. He adds, Accelerating the Crisis Conclusion
Should I Work for Free?
December 17 |
Unions aren't to blame for Wisconsin's budget
Posted at 9:36 AM ET, 02/18/2011 By Ezra Klein Let's be clear: Whatever fiscal problems Wisconsin is -- or is not -- facing at the moment, they're not caused by labor unions. That's also true for New Jersey, for Ohio and for the other states. There was no sharp rise in collective bargaining in 2006 and 2007, no major reforms of the country's labor laws, no dramatic change in how unions organize. And yet, state budgets collapsed. Blame the banks. Of course, the fact that public-employee pensions didn't cause a meltdown at Lehman Brothers doesn't mean they're not stressing state budgets, and that the pensions they've been promised don't exceed what state budgets seem able to bear. In fact, it particularly doesn't work for what Walker is attempting in Wisconsin. In English: The governor called a special session of the legislature and signed two business tax breaks and a conservative health-care policy experiment that lowers overall tax revenues (among other things).
"Blood diamond" regulation system broken
The recent approval of Zimbabwean diamonds mined from the $800bn Marange fields by the Kimberley Process (KP) chair, the DRC's Mathieu Yamba Lapfa Lambang, has prompted a global "human rights" outcry with KP members such as Canada, the EU, and the US claiming there was "no consensus". Meanwhile, other countries like China (the world's fastest growing diamond consumer market), and India (which cuts and polishes 11 of 12 stones) have all given the green light to Zimbabwe, removing any potential problems of surplus minerals from Marange, which has been described by Zimbabwean Finance Minister Tendai Biti as "the biggest find of alluvial diamonds in the history of mankind". With potential revenues pegged at $1-1.7bn annually, the support of neighbouring governments like South Africa, another major diamond producer, and "host" country to 3 million Zimbabwean political and economic "refugees", is not surprising. Governments given a free pass No matter. De Beers funds African conflicts
Labor Rights Now!
