Worker ownership is an idea whose time may have finally come. Paradoxically, employee ownership of the enterprise in which they work is at once the oldest and the newest labor strategy. In its historic form of producer cooperatives, which was advocated by the Knights of Labor, is a core strategy of Reformist Unionism. In recent years it has been put into practice frequently, but in a manner that has been largely haphazard and opportunistic. Yet, it appears to be one of the few general strategic directions that offers to unions the ability to organize and represent the winners as well as the losers in the modern global economy. This chapter will briefly review the idea of employee ownership, take a look at its current state, and evaluate its potential as a major strategic union thrust.

THE IDEA OF EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP

The concept of employee ownership has many fathers. Perhaps the most obvious American source of thinking and practice in the area of employee ownership is the Knights of Labor. As noted in Chapter 4, employee ownership in the form of producer cooperatives was at the very heart of their ideology. The Knights' notion was to replace the wage system with one where the “producer” was also the owner.