nassella/co-op.org

* Background

Many software opportunites today are focused on building companies or
products focused on short-term stock-market gains or raising venture
funding rounds. This, along with other factors, has lead to precarious
employment opportunities focused on a person's existing skills, with
little-to-no emphasis on long term stability and individual growth,
and long hours and stressful working conditions.

I desire to work somewhere that focuses more on providing a
high-quality, stable environment where everyone is able to learn and
grow and earn an income over the long term. I would also like to work
somewhere that emphasizes collaboration over command-and-control
structures.

My ideal workplace would be one where, eventually, members only need
to work 3-4 days per week and are able to earn a living wage with a
stable income over many years and where responsibilities are shared
across all members equally. This would be somewhere that people learn
and grow and strives to create a more equal workplace without
discrimination.

I have worked at many different companies and held many different
positions over the years and based on that experience, and the people
I have worked with along the way, I am convinced that this vision is
possible. Individually, I have experience in all of skills needed for
building companies, products, and managing teams, which also gives me
confidence in this vision and also inspires me to share what I have
learned with others.

The realization of this goal is to create a worker owned software
product cooperative. What follows are my working ideas on how this
cooperative would be built and function, although I plan to get as
much feedback on these ideas as possible from potential members!

* Structure

- Worker control: 1 worker = 1 vote


  This means that every member of the co-op has equal say in the major
  decisions affecting the co-op. There can be no "bosses" except those
  voted for by the members themselves (who can then also be removed by
  those members). This also means that regardless of how much capital
  a member invests, they will have equal say to all other members.

** Decision Making

I envision all major decisions being made by consensus of all members,
falling back to majority vote only if absolutely needed. The goal
would be create an environment in which all members are empowered to
have equal control over their own working environment and the future
outcomes of the co-op.

** Capital Investments

The co-op may opt to correlate end-of-year profits to amount of
capital investment. The idea is that all members get paid a
living-wage and provided good benefits via standard W2 employment, but
any additional money beyond that required to pay its member's salaries
and run the operations of the company, and that is not elected to be
re-invested back into the company, would be distributed back to
members on an annual basis based on their capital
investments. Effectively, this means that early co-op members, or
members that invest more direct capital, would be eligible to receive
a larger proportion of any potential profits under the assumption that
they may have take on more risk.

** Formation

The legal vehicle by which the co-op operates is yet to be
determined. Likely a lawyer will need to be consulted before any
decision is made. Possible options:

- California provides a legal framework for creating, running, and
  operating worker-owned co-operatives.


  This appears to be a decent option with many advantages including it
  is very cost-effective both in terms of corporate fees and tax-pass
  through schemes. The likely big downside is that few companies use
  this structure so the legal environment is less defined. This may
  not matter if outside investment is never considered/desired.

  More resources [[https://cccd.coop/co-op-info/co-op-types/worker-co-ops][here]]

- Standard Delaware Corp or LLC


  It sounds like some co-ops have been able to form under more
  standard business vehicles. This would provide the advantage of a
  much more developed legal framework and services but may not provide
  the same level of protections for members as a legal regime created
  specifically for co-ops.

** Positions

Ideally, members can freely rotate between skilled, unskilled,
professional, administrative, and managerial roles as desired. My
experience is that siloing individuals into very specific roles often
leads to unequal work environments as people are not able to gain the
experience they need to make good decisions in all areas and people
can then use their knowledge over people. One option would be to have
a program that helps all members spend some amount of their time
involved in all roles at some point, not just solely focused on their
primary skill.

** Membership

As per existing corporation and co-op law: membership would be
accomplished by buying at least one share in the company. The cost of
a share would be set by the members. A member could buy more than one
share but that does not entitle them to any benefits outside of
potential extra profit earnings. When a member leaves the company, the
company must reimburse the member for all of the shares they
own. Shares therefore act as a means of documenting ownership and as a
vehicle for members to invest capital into the company.

What should the process be for accepting new members? I think a good
starting place would be to initially hire people "on probation" for a
set period of time, maybe 6 months. After the probationary period, the
members can vote on whether or not to extend a membership
offer. During the probationary period the person would not be eligible
to vote with the members but they may be allowed to participate in
discussions around decisions made by members.

* Workplace

My preference would be a "remote-first/virtual" workplace with at
least two in-person meetups per year. A good starting place may be to
look at how GitLab organizes their "transparent", "remote-first"
workplace in their public [[https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/][handbook]], specifically their [[https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/teamops/][teamops]]
section.

* Product

I strongly believe in the value of all people and in this context that
includes the co-ops members but also potential users and customers. I
would want the co-op to always choose to empower its users vs attempt
to exploit them. This likely means things like:

- providing high-quality and easy data export options to prevent
  vendor lock-in

- providing program source to customers (likely under an AGPL license)

* General Goals

- worker control: 1 worker = 1 vote
- long-term, stable sustainable job's for members
  - prioritize less work hours over growth/profit
- voluntary and open membership
  - no discrimination including:
    - gender
    - social
    - sexuality
    - racial
    - political
    - religious
- provide a safe and inclusive work environment
  - members must feel safe to make mistakes and voice different
    opinions

  - communication should be direct and specific
  - expectations must be explicitly communicated
  - boundaries must be listened to and respected
  - members must not speak to or cooperate with law enforcement
- provide opportunities for members to learn and grow
- remain independent and autonomous
  - outside capital, if any, may not have control
- cooperate with other cooperatives
- concern for community
  - actively engage with local communities
  - actively manage environmental impacts
  - seek out, involve, and learn from diverse groups

** Bylaws

- Impactful decisions and bylaws can only be made by a vote of all
  members (consensus)

- Hiring and firing of a member can only be made by a consensus vote
  of all members

- The co-op and its members may not enter into any agreements that
  would cause the change of worker control