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What's up with employee-owned companies/co-ops? How does it compare to a strong union? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 3 days ago by doubtingtammy@lemmy.ml to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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I'm interested in leftist opinions of employee-owned companies. If that's still too broad, could you give some examples of employees buying their employer out? Or are there other ways, like with a union?

Also, what's up with King Arthur's and Bob's Red Mill?

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[–] andrewrgross 7 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Here is a transcript from a panel discussion on this topic held last year at Baltimore's museum of industry.

https://therealnews.com/baltimores-co-ops-show-the-power-of-a-solidarity-economy

They have a few examples represented. One is a coffee shop that the owners closed after the workers started a union, but then the union raised the money to buy it out and the owners agreed to sell it to them.

Another is a family-owned hardware store that converted to a worker-ownership model when the owners wanted to retire because they didn't want to ever see a subsequent owner sell to a private equity group or big corporate chain.

There're some great insights provided. The long and short is that it's a lot of work, but very rewarding for those who have the appetite for it.