Worker Cooperative

Worker Cooperatives (also called Producer Cooperatives, Employee-Owned Enterprises or Labor-Managed Firms) are cooperatives which produce goods or provide services and are managed by their workers in assemblies or by elected managers. Money gained by the cooperative is reinvested to pay for the operating costs of the business (like bills, rent, taxes, licensing, materials and so on) and then is either equally distributed to workers via shares or is paid based on the amount of time worked in the cooperative.

Data

• productivity in cooperatives and  worker-owned Enterprises  by John Logue and Jacqueline Yates prepared for the world employment report of the international labor office
• Analyzing the Values and Limitations of Cooperative Firms by Rose Wrist

Explanations for Rarity

Despite generally offering greater rates of productivity and higher worker happiness, worker cooperatives are exceptionally rare in capitalist economies, making up less than 1% of total GDP in most capitalist countries. This apparent paradox has many explanations.

• Worker cooperatives have difficulty raising startup funds
• Worker cooperatives are often connected to the political left, who's members usually don't want to start businesses
• Many people aren't aware of worker cooperatives
• Many major businesses have monopoly's and that causes many problems for worker cooperatives

Notable Worker Cooperatives

• Ocean spray
• Amul - Dairy Products
• CECOSESOLA
• Citybikes Workers' Cooperative
• Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative
• Egged - Bus Transport
• Evergreen Cooperatives - Green Industry
• John Lewis Partnership
• Mondragon