Cooperatives

I work in the software industry and would love to move to a worked owned company/co-op.

Does anyone know good resources for finding co-ops in Germany and/or Europe?

I'm considering starting a co-operatively owned website for writers to share their work without any gatekeepers, and with any profits generated going to the writers.

Does anyone know of any good resources or examples of similar co-ops (or other types of businesses) that might make useful case studies?

Thanks!

I'm mainly looking for some software development type of job (preferably withing the game industry), but anything else would be fine as long as I get to make above minimum wage, as I'm currently below it, thanks to Hungary's half-assed "public employment" program (they hire people for government institutes for half the minimum wage in certain positions, in order to "give work, not money").

Unfortunately for me, in Hungary, we not only barely have any cooperatives, but also it's one of the countries that gave the term "worker cooperative" a very bad name after nationalizing them in the 50's, then no longer running as such. On top of all of this, I also don't have a college degree (mandatory for most developer positions, since besides having big names on your resume as past employment, is the only metric the Hungarian HR understands), I face discrimination due to being autistic (they read it as "not confident looking, thus not skilled", once they also asked my brother if I bite people for no reason), etc. I'm more than willing to eventually relocate, but first I would need to spend some money on my health too.

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/[email protected]/t/688578

Institution: Knauss School of Business University of San Diego
Lecturer: Fred Freundlich (professor at Mondragon University)
Subject: #modragon #coops
Year: 2014
Description: Mondragon is one of the leading international examples of cooperative ownership of enterprise and inter-firm collaboration. Mondragon has not only made these characteristics its foundational values, but it also uses them strategically, to complete around the world in advanced manufacturing, retail, finance and knowledge. This presentation introduces Mondragon, its special features and its particular international challenges.

Finally, there's a no-tech-knowledge-needed alternative to Etsy. I'm really excited about where this will go!

"The Case Against the Employment System," and for Workplace Democracy

https://ellerman.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/case-based-on-ordinary-norms.pdf

@cooperatives

Seems like a lot of potential for scale and impact. Anyone know of similar organizations?

An interview with two folks who recently converted their small business into a worker cooperative.

As the title says, interested in discussing worker cooperatives in Portugal.

Here's information from CASES about cooperatives in PT

I'd prefer something more practical.

In my own mind, I'd like to have a cooperative that combines mutual aid, agriculture, environmental work, crafts, social services ... I guess what I really would like to create is a tiny, better functioning society within the crumbling, unsatisfying existing one, and kind of believe a cooperative might be the way to go about defining this in terms of a public front.

As a foreigner in PT I suspect similar structures exist or have existed, but if anyone knows more I'd be happy to learn.

"The word “commons”, refers to a community-run and owned resource. What we saw during the Pandemic was the role a care commons could play in sustaining individual and community well-being in a crisis. Social Care is in crisis, and just like the Pandemic, this crisis impacts us all. Since conventional home care services have been designed to address individual needs they often overlook the wider networks of care and belonging that those individuals are nested within; systems made up of friendship groups, families, neighbors, and local community networks. In the day-to-day delivery of services, these networks have been sidelined. Friends, family and community members have been placed at the margins of formal systems of care. Until recently these "informal" carers placed their trust in the professionals and their processes and procedures. However, the devastating impact of over a decade of austerity has almost completely eroded this trust. Lacking confidence in these formal systems of support, more people are placing their trust in informal systems of support.

"Our pilot rejects an either/or choice between professional services and the kinship and community networks we belong to, choosing instead to overcome the disconnection between them. Taking a commons-based approach is about engaging the best of these two vital support systems, developing a hybrid service out of the relationships, systems and processes found in both these domains of care."

"The two main credit union associations in the USA, the Credit Union National Association (Cuna) and the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (Nafcu), have announced their intent to merge....In May the board of directors and executive committees of both organisations voted unanimously to merge, but the move still needs approval from members – a process that will take place over a 60-day voting period."

I also found this scientific paper on the topic https://edepot.wur.nl/401888

Workers of Anchor Brewing have met, discussed, and decided to launch an effort to purchase the brewery and run it as a worker co-op!

I've always considered the movement for the control and common ownership of companies by their workers to be part of the same struggle as the FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) movement.

Both movements share the idea of holding humans over profit. While worker coops still earn money and sell services in a modern capitalist society, they stand against infinite growth of profit and create conditions for eventual degrowth and abolishment of capitalism. FOSS alternatives to popular corporate software and services go a step further by relying on donations only, completely abolishing profit.

I consider these movements natural allies. Since Coops still make money, and often form federations which have some investment capability, I think it would be wise for Coops to recognize the importance of FOSS as a viable alternative to corporate software and a means to decommodify and de-comercialise the Internet. It would be a huge step towards a more humane economy on a global level.

Would you agree?

Article by The TESA Collective

By Daniel Beetham

By SecondThought

Directed by Elizabeth Galian, AIM Creative Studios

Food Co-ops in the 70's were nuts. Some folks made this documentary about the co-op wars that happened in the Twin Cities, where folks were taking over co-ops by force. Just found out today that you can stream it for free through Twin Cities PBS. Worth a watch.

It's an honest and well-thought-out analysis of worker coops, both its flaws and its strengths!