| Abstract: | This article examines the development of expanding support for worker ownership in the United States. The authors provide a brief review of the various types of legislation, both at the state and federal levels, drafted on worker ownership. They also provide a discussion of the problems in establishing and maintaining a worker-owned firm such as worker access to the idea of worker ownership, time to evaluate, discuss, and learn about the proposal, and judge if it is applicable to their situation. Other problems include training workers for new skills, such as management, and improving productivity. Finally, the authors present various requirements for implementation of wide-scale workers ownership. The requirements include consulting groups which can help workers design, establish, and evolve participation in worker-owned firms, the development of worker ownership programs in all unions to identify ownership opportunities, and the development of federations of worker-owned firms to identify common problems, work to loosen credit sources and even evolve their own banks for capital. |
