Reply #5: There is a difference... [View All]

[thegreatwildebeest]

There is a difference between many "employee owned" (ie: own stock options in companies) and co-op's. Co-op's are often, one person, one vote, have rotating authority, and also a flat if not utterly equal pay and benefits across all positions (often because almost all workers in a co-op share jobs). Employee owned companies however, are still at the root prey to those who simply own more stock. Moreover, they are often still structured like typical corporations in a very top down sort of manner. Co-op's, unfortunatly, have not really spread in America outside of a handful of cafes/bookstores and small resteraunts. That said, the largest co-op I know of in America is Equal Exchange, a fair trade coffee importer (www.equalexchange.com).