I tried to form a worker cooperative for IT workers a few years ago. I thought the idea of providing health insurance, 401k, business insurance and even a bench would be something my fellow engineers would be interested in since it was better than going it alone. As long as they knew that what they paid into the coop was going straight to the support of each other. Economies of scale and all.
But to do it you have to put up some cash to create that umbrella. The IT workers (my co-workers in many case) I spoke with were not willing to do that, preferring to take the higher risk of being a lone freelancer to participating in any kind of cooperative system.
I think people in the tech sector have a belief that they will always land on their feet and as hard as times can be, they want to maximize their earnings over everything else. And they mistrust organizations in general from both a pragmatic perspective and from being somewhat misfits themselves.
How the heck have these IT coops gotten started, then?
> How the heck have these IT coops gotten started, then?
I can't tell you on the basis of empirical knowledge of concrete cases, but in theory (e.g., Elinor Ostrom's work on the commons) you need some lower-level guarantor of trust (such as a shared culture) for higher-level institutions that can solve these kinds of collective action dilemmas to develop.
I am Nick and I am in MN. Who are you? I don't know anyone personally who thinks of a bench as vacation. I think anyone who hits a bench knows they're one step away from the streets.
Could have a rule that your dues increase somewhat when you hit the bench, encouraging you to get off as soon as possible.
There's always the Mondragon as an example, which I've heard good things about.
But to do it you have to put up some cash to create that umbrella. The IT workers (my co-workers in many case) I spoke with were not willing to do that, preferring to take the higher risk of being a lone freelancer to participating in any kind of cooperative system.
I think people in the tech sector have a belief that they will always land on their feet and as hard as times can be, they want to maximize their earnings over everything else. And they mistrust organizations in general from both a pragmatic perspective and from being somewhat misfits themselves.
How the heck have these IT coops gotten started, then?