What is a Worker Cooperative?
Channel: Jimi Sol
Date: 2020-12-06

What are worker-owned cooperatives, and what role might they have in changing the structure of our society? This video explores what worker cooperatives are, why they're good, and how they are a key part of a revolution, from a syndicalist perspective.

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Music: 'Backbay Lounge' by Kevin MacLeod

A great podcast episode about worker cooperatives from Upstream: https://www.upstreampodcast.org/workercoops1


If you are interested in starting a cooperative, or just reading more about them, there is a really helpful and comprehensive document on the topic here: https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/theselc/pages/146/attachments/original/1417036445/TOTB5_Manual_FINAL.pdf?1417036445

Sources and footnotes:

1. The average cooperative pay ratio is 5:1, at least in Mondragon, the world's largest network of worker cooperatives. I couldn't find any research for a more general statistic.
Herrera, 2004, https://web.archive.org/web/20100714041351/http://www.community-wealth.org/_pdfs/articles-publications/outside-us/article-herrera.pdf

2. The average pay ratio in the USA is 320 to 1:
https://www.epi.org/publication/ceo-compensation-surged-14-in-2019-to-21-3-million-ceos-now-earn-320-times-as-much-as-a-typical-worker/

3. There are over 18 million businesses in the USA:
https://dmdatabases.com/databases/business-mailing-lists/how-many-businesses

4. There are about 500 worker-owned cooperatives in the USA:
https://www.usworker.coop/what-is-a-worker-cooperative/