by Nomad
Isn't there any better alternative to the classic corporate business model? With union membership in free-fall, where can the America worker turn to find a decent standard of living, job satisfaction and a more equal voice in the capitalist system? Could the Employee-owned business model be an answer?
Everybody- except perhaps the 1%- would probably agree that
the Capitalist structure is in need of an overhaul or at least a serious
reconsideration. Unions- which have in the past provided a bulwark against corporate
exploitation of labor and yet, a political power, a return of a influential organized
labor movement seems fairly unlikely. We all owe a lot to the existence of the unions. As The Nation pointed out:
Capitalism was “civilized” thanks to the unrelenting pressure of gritty working-class movements and the ever-present threat of strikes and even revolutions.
However, that may all be in the past. That system has broken down.
As
the New York Times noted last year, the long decline in the number of American
workers belonging to labor unions accelerated sharply last year, sending the
unionization rate to its lowest level in close to a century. States like Wisconsin,
Indiana and others, with the help of corporate-funded ALEC enacted new laws that
rolled back the power of unions.
While it may be a bit soon to announce the deaths of labor union movement altogether, some would say this decline might be passed the point of no return. But there are reasons why of the unions haven't magically dissolved. If anything the original reasons for unions- low pay, poor working conditions, profits above all other considerations- are nearly as bad as the time before the rise of unions.
While it may be a bit soon to announce the deaths of labor union movement altogether, some would say this decline might be passed the point of no return. But there are reasons why of the unions haven't magically dissolved. If anything the original reasons for unions- low pay, poor working conditions, profits above all other considerations- are nearly as bad as the time before the rise of unions.
What then are the alternatives to union labor- besides throwing up one hands
and leaving it to overpaid CEOs? Progressives often seem paralyzed. and Conservatives appear intend on pacifying the outrage of an imbalanced system where economic inequality and entitlements for the upper crust is the norm.
One possibility is a completely different model based not on
union-company confrontation but on a model of participation between workers and
the company. No, not a Kumbaya moment by the campfire with workers and management
and owners all holding hands.
I am speaking of employee-owned business model.
I am speaking of employee-owned business model.
