‘In the US they think we’re communists!’ The 70,000 workers showing the world another way to earn a living
‘In the US they think we’re communists!’ The 70,000 workers showing the world another way to earn a living
The Basque Country’s Mondragón Corporation is the globe’s largest industrial co-operative, with workers paying for the right to share in its profits – and its losses. In return for giving more to their employer, they expect more back
When Marisa Fernández lost her husband to cancer a few years ago, her employers at the Eroski hypermarket went, she says, “above and beyond to help me through the dark days afterwards, rejigging my timetable and giving me time off when I couldn’t face coming in.”
She had a chance to return the favour recently when the store, in Arrasate-Mondragón in Spain’s Basque Country, was undergoing renovations. Fernández, 58, who started on the cashier desk 34 years ago, and now manages the store’s non-food section, volunteered to work extra shifts over the weekend along with her colleagues to ensure everything was ready for Monday morning. “It’s not just me. Everyone is ready to go the extra mile,” she says.
Such harmonious employer-worker relations are the stuff of corporate dreams, and they are no accident here: the Eroski retail chain is part of Mondragón Corporation, the largest industrial co-op in the world. As a fully signed-up member, Fernández co-owns part of the supermarket chain that also employs her. “It feels like mine,” she says. “We work hard, but it’s a totally different feeling from working for someone else.”
Not much of a big deal in that headline. Americans think anything left of centre-right is communism.
Most Americans have no clue what socialism means. I almost got shot in a truck stop in Elk City OK because I pointed out roads and the armed forces were socialist institutions.
Edit: I just wanna say I was drawn into a conversation with a crazy person. It's telling that that situation (me being threatened with gun violence) doesn't seem to stretch anyone's imagination.
What I really wanna say is I've spent a lot of time in trump country, and his supporters can be some of the kindest, and in their own way thoughtful people. The kindness and hospitality I've been shown in some of these places has been truly awesome. The tragedy here is they've had their minds poisoned with propaganda that serves to distract from any other problems that may be annoying.
Don't fall into the trap of thinking these are all horrible stupid people. It would only be a disservice both them and yourself.
Some do...
Americans
Change that to nationalist "patriots." Not everyone in the US is a piece of shit right wing maggot.
I regularly have to fight cynicism about the future, because people always talk about a golden future in which there's enough to take care of everyone. What they seem to miss is that there is enough wealth in the world to provide for everyone many times over, and there has been for over a decade at least. Stories like this help give me hope to balance out that cynicism and keep me from becoming too bitter.
The rise of the worker co-op is definitely something to watch! I'm currently exploring a worker co-op for a tech start up. Biggest problem? Funding. No investors want to touch a co-op.
Biggest problem? Funding. No investors want to touch a co-op.
Here's where it gets rough. The biggest problem isn't "funding." It's people working solely for money and nothing else.
If you really care about X, then you should be willing to put in the work even if it doesn't give you the most money in return.
As long as, at all levels of society, people prioritize wealth over results, these problems will not get solved.
I've thought about this a bit (but by no means extensively) and I feel like the stakes are different for tech companies because growth doesn't require as much capital as a non-tech business.
For a SaaS tech company to scale from 10 users to 1000 users doesn't mean a bunch more sales people and a new factory, it means having a great product and turning on new servers, likely only incurring a higher hosting bill from AWS (or similar).
In that sense, I feel like it's easier for the sentiment to be "we'll be better off with 1000 more users" over and over again until people start to want to optimize the business. Which means doing more traditional "shareholder value creation" that big companies do today.
Don't get me wrong, I would love to see it happen, but i think tech just scales so differently and easier than other business types.
That's because america is brain fried
This is the best summary I could come up with:
When Marisa Fernández lost her husband to cancer a few years ago, her employers at the Eroski hypermarket went, she says, “above and beyond to help me through the dark days afterwards, rejigging my timetable and giving me time off when I couldn’t face coming in.”
Fernández, 58, who started on the cashier desk 34 years ago, and now manages the store’s non-food section, volunteered to work extra shifts over the weekend along with her colleagues to ensure everything was ready for Monday morning.
The list ranges from the sovereignty of labour and democratic organisation (one member, one vote), to wage solidarity and “social transformation” – which includes reinvesting surpluses to create new jobs, supporting local charities and community development projects, and strengthening the Basque Country’s Euskara language.
Overlaying these images are facts and figures that would have mainstream financiers salivating: €10.6bn (£9.1bn) in annual revenues; a dozen research and development facilities; a global roster of blue-chip clients; and a diversified sector spread – industry, retail, finance and education.
Pinned to a cork noticeboard beside a busy production line are photos of a recent charity run, a printout of donations to local causes (including €60,000 for a nearby organic food association), and a poster about a forthcoming “women in science” event.
The rise in mainstream corporations now talking the language of employee autonomy, horizontal management, dignified wages and similar themes suggests co-operativism is leaving its mark on business company practices if not – yet – on capitalist ownership
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I’ve always wanted to work for mondragon.