91–100 of 472 posts
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Yes, in UK we have a network of tech workers co-ops: https://www.coops.tech/about
This is a bad sign. The UK is like Argentina - if they've adopted an economic idea that means it doesn't work and you need to run away from it. https://twitter.com/JosephPolitano/status/169124217640185446...
Why doesn't the word "rent" appear in here anywhere? If the landlord becomes aware that the restaurant pays way above industry norms, it will raise the rents at the earliest opportunity to squeeze that money back out of the business. Either they own the building or have an existing long-term lease.
That is generally not how things work. Your same argument could be made if they realized the restaurant was very popular/profitable (with low empoloyee wages). Rents have to be somewhat in line with market. They can't just increase rents ignoring the rest of the market. If you are arguing that switch costs are high, so they can. That may be somewhat true, but I know of multiple restaurants in my area that have moved.…
When you hear of a popular, well-reviewed, by all accounts successful place closing after 5+ years with no whiff of professional scandal or business partner discord, this is usually the reason.
Yes, absolutely, but there are pitfalls: * Somehow finances have to work, which is usually a harsh reality for some. Ex: Hey we can't pay workers $250/hr without raises prices to above what customers are willing to pay * Consumers despite "Least common denominator" which is often the result of "design by committee". Usually consumers are after something niche, unique, artistic, and creative, which is the inspiration…
Why doesn't the word "rent" appear in here anywhere? If the landlord becomes aware that the restaurant pays way above industry norms, it will raise the rents at the earliest opportunity to squeeze that money back out of the business. Either they own the building or have an existing long-term lease.
If a landlord becomes aware a company pays it's managers above industry norms, do they raise rent? How does any company make a profit in such a world?
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There is a lot more legal overhead to buying out an LLC owner against their will compared to firing an at-will employee.
Should a worker-owned company be an LLC? An LLC[1] is a union of assets put together for a common purpose. It's not a union of people. A worker-owned company should have a different legal structure, usually something created specifically for such an organization, though one would imagine partnerships would be suitable if the law doesn't provide for a special structure. [1]Granted, I'm thinking of European definitions…
I also would not refer to an LLC as a collection of assets for a common purpose; instead I would say it is a popular entity form that limits member or manager liability. However you could take a different view.
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> How does the landlord know how much money the restaurant is making? They don't. But when the local newspaper food reviewer gives you a glowing review and there's lines out the door waiting for a table when you have full covers for the night, and they happen to drive by /their/ building and see this, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out you're doing well. The unfortunate reality of restaurant economics m…
This is why Adam Smith hated rent seeking behaviour and I think its the biggest flaw in how we do capitalism: the wealthy create wealth by controlling stuff - especially natural monopolies like land, not by doing any actual work. It's parasitic.
Worker-owned anything can work. It's democracy in the workplace.
Democracy only works when just about everyone wants the same thing. And even then leaders generally abuse power. The lower the stakes, the worse it gets.
Worker-owned anything can work. It's democracy in the workplace.
It’s a hellish concept. The workers relationship to the company becomes less transactional, and they get all the stress of owning a business but without the outsized profits.
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Does it? If the rest of the community doesn't want you there, seems pretty cut and dry. There are no "managers" at Valve, yet they fire people all the time. You would simply receive your pay, and whatever your portion of the dividends owed to you up until your date of firing.
Valve is still a corporation with a single majority shareholder. And I can't imagine a restaurant could work the same way as Valve. In a restaurant, you have to feed people day in day out. You can't deliver a Michelin-quality meal when the inspiration hits you and nothing when it doesn't. Valve also seems to have a strangely forgiving customer base. I don't think I've ever seen anyone complain about micro-transaction…
San Jose and Sunnyvale in California has "A Slice of New York" which is a co-op pizza operation: https://asliceofny.com/about/ Video about the co-op https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhbupz-iuhU