An alternative way of looking at industry

[Pesky Wesky]

Originally Posted by mrypg9

Whether a co-operative works well or not is not a matter of ideology but management.
Given good management with clear direction, fair remuneration and employee involvement there is absolutely no reason why a co-operative should not work.

Of course, and it could be said that one of the main reasons businesses are not successful is because of bad management. The idea is that as the co op mangement is elected, is not allowed absolute control, and as there is a salary limit in the rules preventing the fat cats getting fatter that a coop is perhaps a "more equal" environment and maybe, in these times more likely to survive.

[mrypg9]

Originally Posted by Pesky Wesky

Of course, and it could be said that one of the main reasons businesses are not successful is because of bad management. The idea is that as the co op mangement is elected, is not allowed absolute control, and as there is a salary limit in the rules preventing the fat cats getting fatter that a coop is perhaps a "more equal" environment and maybe, in these times more likely to survive.

Totally agree. I think all industry should have more worker participation.

The way the co-ops I've been involved with in the UK is that the managers are professionals but the Annual Meeting has more powers than a 'normal' shareholders meeting.

We offered our workers shares in our business but they weren't interested. So we gave our General Manager and his son the Workshop Manager 12.5% each and made them Directors.

They didn't run the company well after we left, though.

[jimenato]

Is this anything like John Lewis/Waitrose?

[dunmovin]

Originally Posted by Hepa

Never heard of them, cannot be famous like Wartburg.

Wartburg Knight... three cylinder, two stroke engine,which polluted more than 5 citreon 2cv s and one trabansk combined, made a Lada riva look good (and that was a car you didn't drive but fought with) and was about as reliable as the claim the Titanic was unsinkable?

That Wartburg?

[Hepa]

Originally Posted by dunmovin

Wartburg Knight... three cylinder, two stroke engine,which polluted more than 5 citreon 2cv s and one trabansk combined, made a Lada riva look good (and that was a car you didn't drive but fought with) and was about as reliable as the claim the Titanic was unsinkable?

That Wartburg?

That is the one!!

[mrypg9]

Originally Posted by Hepa

That is the one!!

And very much sought-after in the German Democratic Republic and Czechoslovakia.

There was also a Romanian car...Oldcit, inevitably known as old s**t. Made by Dacia??

Equally dire.

[Alcalaina]

Originally Posted by Pesky Wesky

Of course, and it could be said that one of the main reasons businesses are not successful is because of bad management. The idea is that as the co op mangement is elected, is not allowed absolute control, and as there is a salary limit in the rules preventing the fat cats getting fatter that a coop is perhaps a "more equal" environment and maybe, in these times more likely to survive.

Here's a nice short video on how it works:

SHIFT CHANGE - Putting Democracy to Work - preview on Vimeo

I like Mondragón's policy that the highest paid executives can't earn more than eight times what the lowest-paid staff earn. (This ratio varies, in some companies it's even lower.)

They are not confined to Spain:

Mondragon has struck a deal with the United Steelworkers and the Ohio Employee Ownership Center. Together, they will build yet another variation, a “union-cooperative,” merging the tenets of worker-owned cooperatives, such as democratized workplaces, with collective bargaining."

[juanillo]

Can you give any more specific information as to the difference between co-operatives and collectives? I'm studying this concept so I can make an informed decision to migrate to a co-operative in the Mondragon community.

[juanillo]

can you point to a website that may give me more information about joining a mondragon cooperative? I would be moving from Fort Worth Tx