Worker Cooperatives Are More Productive Than Normal Companies

Worker-run management reduces friction with boss/worker issues like

• communication breakdown
• disputing theory vs practice
• resisting unfair burdens/rewards
• monitoring and correcting skills and attitudes.

“European co-op sector is generally as diverse as any other type of ownership structure, including full-scale factories . Though co-op conversion is often seen as a way to rescue “failing” firms, Perotin’s research reveals that in France from 1997 to 2001 more than eight in 10 worker co-ops starting up during this period were established “from scratch,” not derived from ownership transfers in failing companies (compared to new business formations overall, co-ops had a larger portion of brand-new startups)”.

Co-ops offer sustainable long-term employment because worker-owners protect their own livelihoods. This is seen in periods of economic distress, co-ops generally preserve jobs while planning to maintain current assets—vs. many corporations shed jobs to tighten budgets.

Not all worker-owned models prioritize further generations. Some co-ops though balance both democratic enterprise and public trust principles- and in some states are mandated by law to protect the co-op model by keeping a long term reserves, and that when owners leave, indivisible assets are recycled back into future co-op organization.

“In an increasingly precarious economy, advocates push worker ownership as a pathway to restore equity and control to labor. Co-ops can boost career mobility and seed homegrown job opportunities, while communities benefit from an ownership structure that keeps capital reinvested locally, not exploited or outsourced to faceless corporate chains.”

Hoover projects that an oncoming wave of retiring Baby Boomer small business owners’ firms are viable, but won’t attract big buyers, so instead of folding, a retiring owner can hand the keys over to veteran staff. This could offer fresh opportunities for co-op conversion .

“Co-ops may not bring about a revolution, but they do bring a priceless return on investment— giving workers the power to repay one good turn with another”.