On March 22, 2013, Theresa Riley writes on Bill Moyers & Company:
Economist Richard Wolff is a proponent of democracy at work: an alternative capitalism that thrives on workers directing their own workplaces. In the documentary film Shift Change, producers Mark Dworkin and Melissa Young tell the stories of successful cooperative businesses from Spain to San Francisco. We caught up with Dworkin and Young to find out what makes cooperative businesses work.
Employee ownership in the U.S. is much more widespread than usually understood, with at least 11,000 such businesses in operation. Many are Employee Stock Ownership Plans or ESOPs, where employees own part or all of the company. Introduced under President Nixon, this is one way for private companies to transition to employee ownership. ESOPs may or may not be democratic and participatory places to work. Worker cooperatives are both owned and managed by their workers — one worker, one vote. According to the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives, currently there are about 400 worker cooperatives in the U.S. They operate many types of businesses, mainly services, and are growing especially among Latino immigrants and in working class communities.
In a worker-owned company, workers make business decisions together and work for the sustainable development of their communities. Visit Arizmendi Bakery in the Bay Area, the Evergreen cooperatives in Cleveland, and Equal Exchange, a coffee company in Massachusetts in our Q&A with the filmmakers of Shift Change: Putting Democracy to Work. Workers at the Bay Area’s Arizmendi Bakery chain talk about what it’s like to work at a cooperative business where the workers make all the decisions and share all the profits.
SHIFT CHANGE: PUTTING DEMOCRACY TO WORK tells the little known stories of employee-owned businesses that compete successfully in today’s economy while providing secure, dignified jobs in democratic workplaces.
Investigates employee-owned businesses that provide secure, dignified jobs in democratic workplaces even in today’s economic crisis.
With the long decline in US manufacturing and today’s economic crisis, millions have been thrown out of work, and many are losing their homes. The usual economic solutions are not working, so some citizens and public officials are ready to think outside of the box, to reinvent our failing economy in order to restore long term community stability and a more egalitarian way of life.
There is growing interest in firms that are owned and managed by their workers. Such firms tend to be more profitable and innovative, and more committed to the communities where they are based. Yet the public has little knowledge of their success, and the promise they offer for a better life.
Amongst the organizations featured in SHIFT CHANGE are:
Mondragón Cooperative Corporation – Begun in the 1950s, the Mondragón co-ops have transformed a depressed area of Spain into one of the most productive in Europe with a high standard of living and an egalitarian way of life. They are owned and managed by their workers. Seeing the achievements of the MCC helps to overcome the idea-widespread in North America-that worker run cooperatives can only exist on the economic fringe.
The Evergreen Cooperatives in Cleveland, OH – This is an ambitious urban redevelopment model, directly inspired by Mondragón, where local institutions and public officials are supporting green cooperatives of previously marginalized, predominantly African American workers, who provide commercial laundry services, install solar energy systems, and grow vegetables in vast urban greenhouses.
Arizmendi Association of Cooperatives, San Francisco, California – Started 30 years ago, there are now six of these independent worker owned and managed cooperative bakeries that work together to provide the financial and legal services they need, and to incubate new coop bakeries.
Equal Exchange, Boston MA: Founded in 1986, Equal Exchange is one of the largest roasters of fair trade coffee in the world.
Reviews
“This is a very important film on a very important topic that is almost completely neglected by business schools. As our current economic structures veer ever closer to collapse, the cooperative alternative has become more important and more attractive. Seeing the sophistication of these businesses and listening to these co-op member/owners talk about their work is totally inspiring. Another world IS possible – and it looks like this!”
“Shift Change offers us living examples as well as an inspiring vision of what a productive, just, and sustainable economy can look like. The film’s core message can help to build bridges across different groups who are united in their commitment to the economic vitality and fairness of their own communities. The overall message, the cases, and the analysis are exactly what we need to help chart pathways out of the global economic crisis.”
“One of the barriers to fostering cooperative values and businesses in North America is the lack of awareness of the benefits that well organized cooperatives with good business practices can offer to workers and communities. Educating the public to the cooperative approach to business is an important contribution which Shift Changecan make.”
“A refreshing and thoughtful response to those who argue there are no better or even viable alternatives to our current for-profit, top-down market-based economic organizations…The film exposes the viewer to the wide range of workers (from highly skilled engineers to newly arrived immigrant workers) as well as workplaces (from household appliances to industrial laundry) engaged in cooperative production.Shift Change could easily be used effectively in economics, sociology, political science, and management courses.”
“A first-rate documentary…A unique educational film. Shift Changepersuasively demonstrates the success of worker cooperatives in building industry through democratic ownership that also paves the way to advancing new forms of democracy in capitalist society. What makes the film so convincing is the overwhelming evidence that is conveyed to all that cooperatives are imperative in advancing the American Dream of worker control and democratic governance. Shift Change is a sweeping and indispensable documentary!”
“The world has changed but most businesses are still run as they if it were last century with a few on top operating with as little concern for their workers as for the community or the environment. Fortunately, against this model stands a vibrant group of worker cooperatives stretching from the Basque region of northern Spain to the rust belt cities of Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Madison Wisconsin. Shift Changetells how workers are creating a new business model, one that is democratic, egalitarian, and concerned for the community; a model that is also, ultimately, more productive because it draws on the talents and the skills of the workers themselves.”
“The North American worker cooperatives and the Mondragón cooperatives in Shift Change tell a compelling story of real possibilities at a time when many think there are no solutions to this current difficult economic situation.”
“Any new economy that is more just, democratic and green must open the door to more democratic forms of ownership. Shift Changenimbly moves from the successful cooperatives of Mondragon, Spain to efforts to build cooperatives across the United States.”
“Gorgeous! Simply beautiful! I love what I see so far. The U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives strongly supports this project.”
“The basic purpose of Shift Change is to encourage the development of work cooperatives in North America as one solution to our severe economic problems as well as a means for a regional economy to compete successfully in the global economy. We at the CMRC can see using the documentary in many ways.”
“This is an essential introduction to worker-ownership. The film presents the building blocks of cooperativism, from the pleasure and pain of group decision-making to the process of building networks of coops, clearly and compellingly in the words of worker-owners themselves.”
“Brilliant…For the labor movement, the film opens up the interesting question of what would a union worker cooperative model look like. In an economy where casino-like investment decisions are rewarded and outsourcing of employment hurts us all, worker cooperatives present a healthy alternative to business as usual and the usual types of businesses.”
“A timely documentary..Offers an energizing look at the workings of the giant cooperative model, Mondragon, in Basque, Spain. The film also covers strong US-based worker-owned enterprises that prove the investor Wall Street model of business is not necessary to a successful company.”
“Shift Change brings you behind the scenes at some of the most exciting cooperative successes in Europe and the United States. This is a movement that’s creating jobs, strengthening communities, and showing that another economy is possible. It’s a movement that’s taking off–and this film is the way to understand what’s happening.”
“The phrase ‘worker cooperative’ probably evokes vague notions of overseas Communism, small-time craft vendors, or the organic grocery store around the corner. Underneath that cultural baggage, though, it’s a pretty simple idea: Whatever the enterprise, every employee who qualifies has a vote on business matters and is invested in the company…Shift Changeargues that in an economy where not much is certain, it’s worth considering different ways for ordinary people to join forces in the name of profit.”
“How would work be if everyone had an equal say in the success and development of a business? Can democracy in the workplace translate to a successfully run company?…Through in-depth interviews with members of employee-owned companies across the United States and in Spain, the filmmakers succeed in helping to frame the debate about work and business development in a more humane light.”
http://billmoyers.com/2013/03/22/how-worker-owned-companies-work/
For more information, visit www.shiftchange.org.
http://shiftchange.org/shift-change-featured-on-moyers-company/
