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In reply to the discussion: Which type of workplace would you prefer to work in? [View all]Luminous Animal
(27,310 posts)10. Mondragon Co-op operating for near 60 years, employing 84,000 people.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondragon_Corporation#Wage_regulation
History
The MONDRAGON Corporation is a corporation and federation of worker cooperatives based in the Basque region of Spain. It was founded in the town of Mondragón in 1956 by graduates of a local technical college. Their first product was paraffin heaters. Currently it is the seventh largest Spanish company in terms of asset turnover and the leading business group in the Basque Country. At the end of 2011 it was providing employment for 83,869 people working in 256 companies in four areas of activity: Finance, Industry, Retail and Knowledge.
....
Business culture
This entire framework of business culture has been structured on the basis of a common culture derived from the 10 Basic Co-operative Principles, in which MONDRAGON is deeply rooted: Open Admission, Democratic Organisation, the Sovereignty of Labour, Instrumental and Subordinate Nature of Capital, Participatory Management, Payment Solidarity, Inter-cooperation, Social Transformation, Universality and Education.
....
Wage regulation
At Mondragon, there are agreed-upon wage ratios between the worker-owners who do executive work and those who work in the field or factory and earn a minimum wage. These ratios range from 3:1 to 9:1 in different cooperatives and average 5:1. That is, the general manager of an average Mondragon cooperative earns 5 times as much as the theoretical minimum wage paid in his/her cooperative. This ratio is in reality smaller because there are few Mondragon worker-owners that earn minimum wages, their jobs being somewhat specialized and classified at higher wage levels.
Some of my favorite products that I buy are produced by co-ops. Some of my favorite places I shop are co-ops.
History
The MONDRAGON Corporation is a corporation and federation of worker cooperatives based in the Basque region of Spain. It was founded in the town of Mondragón in 1956 by graduates of a local technical college. Their first product was paraffin heaters. Currently it is the seventh largest Spanish company in terms of asset turnover and the leading business group in the Basque Country. At the end of 2011 it was providing employment for 83,869 people working in 256 companies in four areas of activity: Finance, Industry, Retail and Knowledge.
....
Business culture
This entire framework of business culture has been structured on the basis of a common culture derived from the 10 Basic Co-operative Principles, in which MONDRAGON is deeply rooted: Open Admission, Democratic Organisation, the Sovereignty of Labour, Instrumental and Subordinate Nature of Capital, Participatory Management, Payment Solidarity, Inter-cooperation, Social Transformation, Universality and Education.
....
Wage regulation
At Mondragon, there are agreed-upon wage ratios between the worker-owners who do executive work and those who work in the field or factory and earn a minimum wage. These ratios range from 3:1 to 9:1 in different cooperatives and average 5:1. That is, the general manager of an average Mondragon cooperative earns 5 times as much as the theoretical minimum wage paid in his/her cooperative. This ratio is in reality smaller because there are few Mondragon worker-owners that earn minimum wages, their jobs being somewhat specialized and classified at higher wage levels.
Some of my favorite products that I buy are produced by co-ops. Some of my favorite places I shop are co-ops.
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That is a nice idea, and I've been thinking about why I didn't include it in the options.
Ken Burch
Jan 2013
#13
It's not easy. I have been offered many opportunities to grow my business in the past...
Walk away
Jan 2013
#38
I'm currently working in a place like that and it's working out quite well
Posteritatis
Jan 2013
#19
Had it not occurred to you that, possibly, the reason so many of your co-workers weren't interested
Ken Burch
Jan 2013
#12
Well, collective management usually involves its own equivalent of parliamentary procedure
Ken Burch
Jan 2013
#24
I like working in an environment in which someone has commandeered the radio, plays the
2on2u
Jan 2013
#27
Not a "waste the boss" type. myself...what you CAN say, though, is that Milton was a real example
Ken Burch
Jan 2013
#30
And they certainly do push, fortunately I refuse to reach my breaking point.... I just pack it
2on2u
Jan 2013
#31
The problem with cooperative management and management by concensus is that loud pushy people
Nikia
Jan 2013
#33
Actually, not so. A well-run co-op will have a strong framework for participation.
Luminous Animal
Jan 2013
#36