Cartoon of the Day
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In: Cartoon Of The Day · Tagged with: Cartoon Of The Day, Salary Information
Worker Cooperatives Share The Wealth
The idea of sharing the profits of a company equally among its workers may seem like a radical idea in a country based on the capitalist inverted triangle of profit distribution. Conversely, all of the employees in a cooperative business have equal value and tend to be happier and more productive since they are all owners of the company rather than “owned” by the company. The model would more closely approximate a wheel and spoke design in which each spoke (or employee owner) has the exact same length. If the spokes were of varying lengths, then the wheel would be lopsided and unable to turn freely.
Alvarado Street Bakery of Petaluma California is an example of a successful cooperative in which workers each own an equal share of the company that entitles them to make decisions affecting salaries and benefits as well as a whole host of other business decisions such as how to allocate profits. The average salary for these bakery workers is close to $70,000 per year with over half of the 116 workers having at least 15 years of service with the company. Each day, Alvarado Street Bakery ships over 40,000 loaves of bread which is a tribute to the success of this form of business.
The idea of a worker cooperative owned business is not new. Its origins date back to early 19th century England and was based on principals of improving the plight and quality of life for skilled workers and artisans. The sustaining nature of this form of business is directly linked to the concept of employee stake in the success of the business. Rather than the typical corporate model today, in which companies are owned by institutions of investors, the primary focus of the cooperative owned business becomes long term sustained growth driven by owner employees, rather than short run profits achieved through cost cutting consultive schemes.
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In: Business Stories · Tagged with: 19th Century England, Artisans, Average Salary, Business Decisions, Cooperative Business, Corporate Model, Equal Share, Petaluma California, Plight, Principals, Profit Distribution, Quality Of Life, Radical Idea, Salaries, Salary Information, Skilled Workers, Spokes, Stake, Street Bakery, Worker Cooperatives
Proposed Federal Wage Freeze
As the federal deficit begins to approach $14 Trillion dollars, new proposals are underway to reduce government spending. The latest being considered is a freeze on government employee wages for the next two years. The average annual government employee salary is now over $80,000 dollars as compared to just slightly over $50,000 dollars for private sector employees. A wage freeze for government employees would create a savings of approximately $60 Billion dollars over the next ten years. A ten percent reduction in federal wages could create a savings of approximately $22 Billion dollars per year. If additionally, there were to be a 10 percent reduction in the number of federal jobs, this could cut the deficit another $219 Billion dollars annually, by some calculations.
The union representing federal employees has come out strongly against any proposed wage freeze. They argue that it is not fair to try to balance the budget by punishing hard working federal employees. In any case, it is obvious that a federal wage freeze proposal will not in itself come close to balancing the budget any more than a piece of gum would have plugged the leak in the Titanic. It is going to require painful sacrifice on the part of all Americans in order to restore the financial health and security of our nation.
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In: Business Stories · Tagged with: Billion Dollars, Budget, Employee Salary, Employee Wages, Federal Deficit, Federal Employees, Federal Jobs, Federal Proposal, Federal Wages, Financial Health, Government Employee, Government Employees, Gum, Painful Sacrifice, Private Sector Employees, Proposals, Salary Information, Trillion, Wage Freeze
