Jackson Rising: Creating the Mondragon of the South

The Laura Flanders show streams from www.grittv.org. Although Jackson, Mississippi has experienced a purge of the industry that once formed its economic backbone, many Jacksonians think that cooperative and solidarity economics could be the antidote that puts the economy back on track. A few weeks ago, the GRITtv team went to Jackson to document this conversation as it unfolded.

[@BigHenFor]

There is no need for a union because the workers themselves own and run the business. There are no industrial disputes as you know them, because each worker owns exactly one share of equal power in the business, and decide everything on the basis of direct and delegated democracy in the workplace. The workers decide which work is done, who does what, where, when and how, and for what pay, and what is to be done with any profit, or what must be done to cover any losses. As the workers are the business, and everyone stands to win or lose directly depending on how their business performs, they are motivated to work efficiently and innovate because they get all the benefits from doing so. The biggest cooperative in the world is the Mondragon Corporation in the town of Mondragon in the Basque region of Spain, where it has spawned multiple co-operatives that all form parts of the industries in the town. The best known of these is Fagor, a producer of domestic appliances and industrial machinery and parts, which exports its products globally. The best general introduction is by Richard Wolff and its on his CZcams channel Workplace Democracy. The video is called "Richard Wolff on the Mondragon cooperatives". It's a 45 minute video which includes a short introductory film about Mondragon, and Wolff talks about his visit to the Mondragon Corporation's Headquarters. Wolff is a great speaker, so the time will fly by. Wolff has a lot of videos on worker cooperatives. If you want a more detailed examination of Mondragon that includes its history, structure and strategy, there is a lecture on the USD Business School CZcams channel called: "The Mondragon Corporation: Employee Ownership as Strategy. This is much more detailed, but breaks down how Mondragon works as as a cooperative corporation in detail, its central workplace democracy, and its guiding principles. Now forgive me but, I did this: if you enter "Worker Cooperatives for dummies" into CZcams, you get a lot of videos that talk about existing worker cooperatives in America. This includes several from the coops themselves, and TED talks about the subject. There is even a video from the USDA giving advice as to how to start one. I hope this information is useful.

[@stephenleyden9559]

Excellent video. People working together to create a thriving and sustainable community which doesn't make a few bullish morons rich.
Life beyond capitalism

[@linzierogers6227]

How do unions fit in with workers cooperatives? A Co-op can't organize against itself. I don't understand.

[@BigHenFor]

There is no need for a union because the workers themselves own and run the business. There are no industrial disputes as you know them, because each worker owns exactly one share of equal power in the business, and decide everything on the basis of direct and delegated democracy in the workplace. The workers decide which work is done, who does what, where, when and how, and for what pay, and what is to be done with any profit, or what must be done to cover any losses. As the workers are the business, and everyone stands to win or lose directly depending on how their business performs, they are motivated to work efficiently and innovate because they get all the benefits from doing so. The biggest cooperative in the world is the Mondragon Corporation in the town of Mondragon in the Basque region of Spain, where it has spawned multiple co-operatives that all form parts of the industries in the town. The best known of these is Fagor, a producer of domestic appliances and industrial machinery and parts, which exports its products globally. The best general introduction is by Richard Wolff and its on his CZcams channel Workplace Democracy. The video is called "Richard Wolff on the Mondragon cooperatives". It's a 45 minute video which includes a short introductory film about Mondragon, and Wolff talks about his visit to the Mondragon Corporation's Headquarters. Wolff is a great speaker, so the time will fly by. Wolff has a lot of videos on worker cooperatives. If you want a more detailed examination of Mondragon that includes its history, structure and strategy, there is a lecture on the USD Business School CZcams channel called: "The Mondragon Corporation: Employee Ownership as Strategy. This is much more detailed, but breaks down how Mondragon works as as a cooperative corporation in detail, its central workplace democracy, and its guiding principles. Now forgive me but, I did this: if you enter "Worker Cooperatives for dummies" into CZcams, you get a lot of videos that talk about existing worker cooperatives in America. This includes several from the coops themselves, and TED talks about the subject. There is even a video from the USDA giving advice as to how to start one. I hope this information is useful.

[@andrewcurtis4847]

Because both are on the side of worker empowerment and workplace democracy. The more militant and radical unions advocate for worker owned and managed industry in the long run (the Industrial Workers of the the World for example). To BigHenFor's point, unions and the cooperative movement ought to (and do often) support one another.

[@ianperfitt]

In worker coops, if the enterprise is big enough so that the workers hire their managers then the workers can form a Union to keep the managers completely accountable

[@cherubin7th]

@@ianperfitt As owners they have much better tools to control the manager. Bill Gates and the other billionaires don't need unions to keep their managers in check. Unions are for slaves.