Co-ops & Solidarity Economy
Worker cooperatives are businesses that are collectively owned and managed by its workers. When working in a worker cooperative, employees have the option to become owners by buying a membership share that grants them a stake in the risks and rewards of the business. This dynamic fosters and is supported by a democratically-run operation that supports people’s input and wellbeing in running a business in contrast to a solely profit-driven business model.
Comparatively, the capitalist business structure is typically one in which one or a few hold positions of power, decision-making, and disproportionately higher wages. As a result, employees do not have input on their working conditions (schedule, wages, workplace management) and subsequently do not have a stake in their work.
Wellspring positions cooperatives as a means for Springfield residents (maybe just people at large) to access rewarding jobs that pay dignified wages.
The Economic Iceberg
Not only do cooperatives typically share more of the surplus value with employees, they also offer opportunities for workers to move into positions of ownership and democratic governance that have transformative potential.
Within a cooperative dynamic, people practice interdependence and collective decision-making because people share in the success and failure of the business–this challenges the capitalist notion of individualism that dominates the capitalist market.The cooperative model represents a culture of work where people are not exploited and sacrificed for profit, but rather where workplaces are malleable to meet the needs of the employees and people are held over profit.
Cooperatives are business models within the capitalist economy, but also hold the potential to act as the groundwork/blueprint for business in a post-capitalist economy. They create the infrastructure for workers to practice skills like collective bargaining, self-determination, democratic decision-making, and interdependence that are necessary skills for unlearning capitalism and building a new economy, a new world. One in which mutual aid, public banking, worker cooperatives are the foundation