Putting Democracy to Work: A Practical Guide for Starting and Managing Worker-owned Businesses - Softcover

Filled with practical advice on how to bring democracy into the world of business, a guide to starting and managing a worker-owned business discusses legal requirements, methods of financing worker buyouts, management patterns, and much more.

The number of worker-owned businesses has been growing steadily over the last twenty years. These businesses have shown that worker cooperatives can prosper in a competitive business environment. Moreover, they can be highly successful at providing jobs, giving workers more control over their own working conditions, and fostering creativity. The net result is greater pride among workers for their work. Based on years of experience in creating worker-owned companies, "Putting Democracy to Work" provides detailed instructions for actually giving a start-up or existing company a democratic form. The authors discuss legal requirements, methods of financing worker buyouts, management patterns, and the efforts necessary to educate all those who will be participating. They also provide examples of the actual paperwork needed to create a worker-owned business: a model business plan, feasibility study, model by-laws, and much more. This book is a comprehensive "how to" guide for setting up a worker owned business. It gives the nuts and bolts of organising, managing, and financing a cooperative venture. Newly revised, it is updated throughout and co-published with Hulogosi Communications.