What is the difference between unions and coops
- The Random Leftist
- Nov 2, 2019
- 4 min read
Coops and Unions. Organizations that supposedly allow the working class to seize the means of production and establish socialism, but if these two types of organizations serve a similar purpose, why do they bother with having separate labels? As someone interested in these types of organizations for some time. I have been wondering about this question for some time. Looking at advertisements for Unions and co-ops wasn’t much help in finding out the difference between the organizations since both have similar rhetoric about worker’s empowerment. So I turned to the internet and did some research and today I’ve decided to spread my findings, in hopes to inform people about the topics.
First, let’s discuss the definitions. A Union is an organization or association formed by people with a common interest or purpose. A coop is a business that is owned by its members, who share in the profits and benefits. Both concepts sound somewhat similar, and in all fairness, there is little difference between a union and worker coop. Since the members of worker cooperatives are the employees in the cooperative, and they have a massive say in how the coop operates. Worker coops arguably give the workers more power than unions do since unions tend to work in the context where the workers report to an external employ. For example, a fast-food restaurant can unionize, but the larger fast-food company still owns it and thus is to an extent at the whim of the company. A worker’s co-op, on the other hand, is owned by the workers who work in them. Thus functioning in the interest of those workers and isn’t at the whim of any company.
However, not all co-ops are worker coops; in fact, they’re in a sort of conflict between worker coops, which are worker-owned and have much in common with Unions and consumer coops, which are consumer-owned. So they function in the interest of the consumer, even if it is at the expense of the worker. This lack of representation motivates workers within these coops to unionize. Which causes the co-ops to bust those unions, just like a regular company would. Consumer coops tend to be very hierarchical in structure and don’t differ too much from average companies. They are even beginning to centralize like significant businesses with the National Co+op Grocers, along with other financial entities making Coops throughout the United States have to adopt more corporate power structures and having to pay a joint liability fund. One worker, nicknamed National Co+op Grocers, the IMF of co-ops. Similar to regular businesses consumer co-ops, tend to have disputes and conflicts of interest between management and employees on matters of payment and benefits, and these conflicts tend to resolve similar to how they are in regular businesses. With the management getting the help of a layer to bust the union. To paraphrase what one consumer co-op worker in Washington D.C said: “It’s a capitalist hell whole.”
Now another critical difference between unions and coops is how they are organized. Unions are organized in the interest of the workers for things such as benefits and payment, while Coops operate in the interest of the enterprise. So this means Unions are concerned with the physical well-being of the workers, while co-ops are related to the well being of financial the coop. In the case of Consumer co-ops, it is run for the well being of the cooperative, even at the expense of workers, while unions at times value the satisfaction of the worker also if it’s at the cost of the business.
Worker Co-ops, due to being worker-owned, operate in the interest of both the enterprise and the workers of that enterprise. So these incentives the workers who own the enterprise to have it succeed. With the enterprise being worker-owned, disputes can conclude quicker, and misunderstandings in regards to orders given by bosses to employees don’t occur since the employees all have an equal say and thus have a part in the planning process. Not only do workers co-ops provide more long term employment and more benefits, but they also can better withstand a financial crisis since they shift and alter the policies to face an economic crisis better. Worker co-ops can also adjust wages to match prices. Due to having a say in the day-to-day running of the enterprise, employees will have to be more responsible for the decisions they make. Worker Co-ops also regard employees as long term investments and would even go as far as lower production during times of economic crisis to not lay off employees, so by the time the crisis is over. They will still have the same number of employees intact. Though this practice does have some drawbacks, it does overall ensure the companies stability during times of crisis. With their workforce completely intact, the co-ops can quickly bounce back once the economic crisis has concluded. Co-ops are also very good for local investments since Co-ops tend to do most of their work within the community they operate around. So they can further foster a sense of association.
In summation, the difference between Unions and Coops is their methods of organization and frame workers they operate. Unions mainly work in a bottom-up fashion with workers making demands to bosses, while co-ops tend to fluctuate between hierarchical structures such as in consumer co-ops and non-hierarchical democratic structures such as in worker co-ops. Overall, both organizations work in the interest of the working class and can help in giving them more power.
Further reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative
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