If you find any good literature around how Worker co-ops can fit into a broader class struggle please let me know! All of my analysis is based on first-hand experience of working in a worker co-op since 2018 and being involved with my local Communist Party since 2017, which is likely only a piece of the wider puzzle since all co-ops are different and the material conditions of each country are different as well.

I’m very keen to learn if there are explicit strategies around better utilising co-operatives in class struggle and if there are tools/techniques for avoiding the pitfalls I’ve described.

Good question. If I’m being honest I haven’t sat down and thoroughly thought about it.

One of the main contradictions I’ve found inside (worker) co-ops in a Capitalist society is that they need to remain profitable and balance worker compensation/benefits/working conditions. As was pointed out in another thread from a while ago, this means that they need to either be quite niche or need to charge higher prices than the corporate competitors.

For me and my experience in my co-op (which is successful, but niche); these conditions lend themselves to focusing on sustaining the co-operative first and looking after the workers there. This means distributing surplus effectively in terms of reinvestment into the co-op and also compensating workers via staff benefits, higher salaries, or flexible working conditions. All of this can take energy via decision-making, and co-opreatives are also a little more fragile due to this compared to their competitors generally being able to offer cheaper services with more infrastructure behind them.

For these reasons, worker co-operatives will generally have a harder time expanding the scope of their benefits outside of their direct membership (and their families). Workers can use the increased flexibility and better working conditions and more stable salary to reinvest their energy elsewhere such as in Parties etc, with the logic being that if you’re not actively fighting against a hostile workspace you might have more energy for the wider struggle. In terms of the co-operative itself, its members can absolutely vote/decide to support and benefit other aspects of the workers’ movements. This can be through financial support, doing pro-bono or reduced-rate work for specific clients (e.g. a co-operative web design agency giving a reduced rate to a Trade Union for designing their website etc), supporting strikes either on the pickets or financially (or even just allowing members to take some discrete time off for these activities if that’s more appropriate to the situation), etc.

However, as noted, the co-op itself needs to be sustainable financially (and democratically; a lot of co-ops can tear apart due to poor democracy and decision-making processes) and ensure that members continue to want to work for the co-op (despite being niche and successful, our salaries are a lot less than our contemporaries in the mega-corp consultancies because we charge our clients less than them). If those challenges can be managed, I don’t see why a willing and politically-aware co-op can’t benefit workers outside of its immediate membership, but these conditions and concerns mean that I’ve found a worker co-op will generally look after its own first. I don’t think this is a bad thing inherently, but I do think that we can’t rely on worker co-ops as a major tool of the class struggle in the long term.

Honestly I think it’ll depend on the members at each different co-op. From my experience, the founders of co-ops tend to be a bit more socialist-leaning in their thinking. As the co-op grows, people who are drawn to the co-op tend to be a bit more inclined towards socialism or progressivism as part of a self-selecting crowd but I think that’s a double-edged sword.

I’ve found that it’s actually harder, in some ways, to properly radicalise such people because these same people may think of themselves as having a good grasp on politics and economics already. Even if they’re nominally socialist, they still end up being anti-China and parroting US propaganda about AES throughout history, haven’t been involved in Trade Unions or solidarity movements, but have been on a few XR marches etc. A lot of the time others are doing lots of other little things here and there such as working with frontline charities, volunteering, etc. but aren’t involved in a party at all and are not interested in learning about basic Political Economy and just know that “capitalism is bad” but have an idealist view of what a socialist state should look like and lack (or disdain) the analytical tools to understand the compromises various socialist projects have had to make throughout history.

In addition to this, if workers within a co-operative aren’t regularly touching base with workers in other organisations then it’s easy to become out of touch with those struggles. In a corp, it’s at least clear that the workers producing value have shared interests to organise round getting a better deal and increasing their bargaining power, which can be useful as a vehicle for getting across the Marxist analysis of political economy and thus lead to the analyses of things such as Imperialism and building Socialism, and the need for it. In co-operatives, unless a worker has come from an existing political or trade unionist space then it’s harder to make these cases for the the broader analyses. I have had some success with colleagues discussing the contradictions of a co-op trying to protect working conditions and salary levels while attempting to stay competitive; but a lot of the time this isn’t able to go much further despite my colleagues being patient with their resident Commie.

Ultimately, running a co-operative takes a lot of work and headspace especially in a direct-governance model. Even the best intentioned can have all their energy absorbed if they’re not careful, so I think while it’s possible to radicalise workers in a co-operative, the material conditions are such that it’s an uphill struggle. Of course, quantity turns into quality. If enough radicalised workers form co-operatives to improve their conditions and then put the machinery of the co-operative to the benefit of the struggle against Capitalism without falling into the trap of “everything should just be a co-op”, then maybe we’ll reach a tipping point!

Additional, as I don’t think I made my main point clearly!

One thing co-ops, mostly worker co-ops, have definitely got going for them is that the surplus capital is mostly put to the benefit of members/workers within the co-operative (after an amount is usually reinvested etc). This means that co-ops, especially worker co-ops, can materially support other aspects of the workers’ movements.

For me, the main problem is that co-operatives tend to operate either totally isolated for the direct benefit of their small membership or within a loose network of the “co-operative movement”; which cannot solve the inherent contradictions in capitalism and co-operatives are more fragile than super-exploitative capitalist-backed entities.

It’s a shame when they don’t engender a broader political mindset to their workers, or materially support (ie with labour or with money) other aspects of the struggle such as parties, trade unions, or other political entities.

I work in a worker-coop. In short; I enjoy it and they’re neat but not everyone will be a Marxist-Leninist or even a Leftist of any stripe, or else want to engage in the broader workers’ movements or engage with unions. You can get Tories wanting to “own a business” and lots of reactionaries who think they’re super progressive for working inside co-ops.

It also comes with the whole “co-operative culture” which can tie up a lot of energy and lead to frustration for Marxist-Leninists who want to see their individual and collective resources put to use elsewhere, and there are lots of different sorts of co-ops e.g. workers’, housing, retail, building societies, etc. These are all fine and good for damage control, but often I’ve seen that for a lot of co-operative members the buck stops there and it becomes “everything should be a co-op” before too long, and the effort goes towards building “the co-operative movement” rather than situating co-ops inside the context of class struggle.

Overall my take on it is similar to what I’ve read from Lenin discussing the need for getting out of a Trade Union mindset and having the vanguard draw together disparate sites of class struggle into a cohesive revolutionary force – co-ops (especially worker co-ops) can be useful as a tool and should be engaged with and used where appropriate. Comrades operating as voting members within co-operatives of all stripes should be seeking to steer their co-operative towards materially supporting other sites of struggle: using surplus to contribute to Communist or Worker parties (not likely, but the dream!) or direct action; similarly supporting Unions, especially contributing towards solidarity funds and strikes; making public statements against Imperialist or Reactionary policies from the government etc.

Co-operatives, especially tight-knit ones, can be very good at looking after their own members and other co-operatives and I’ve found it a struggle to get mine to engage in other movements. I put my energy into the Party, instead, but I would certainly recommend working inside a co-operative to give you the space to then re-invest in the struggle.

I understand that, I suppose it depends on your relationship to your family and how much you’re beholden to them for your personal safety. Since I’m an adult and live independently from them, I would absolutely feel comfortable doing this. My sister has recently become a landlord, and if I hear her say something similar to OP’s mother, or if it appears that she’s mistreating them I have no qualms about explicitly stating she’s in the wrong and openly moving against her.

If OP is in a more delicate situation wrt their relationship with their parents, then I think there’s scope for quietly (or even anonymously) getting in touch with e.g. renter’s unions and asking a member to reach out the tenant. Or maybe dropping some literature through the door of the property for the tenant to read.

Are there any renters unions in your area? Getting the tenant involved with them might help them legally or practically. In the UK, we have Acorn which do a mixture of direct action (ie literally blocking Landlords from accessing the property) and supporting tenants with navigating the legal system and understanding their (somewhat limited) rights as renters.

If there’s something comparable in your local area, perhaps approach them with the consent of the tenant? If there’s not then perhaps there’s similarly minded people which you can help to start organise and bring into the fold?

Ah thanks comrade, it was indeed a cosy day!

My partner and I are on the last few days of our Summer Solstice holiday. We hiked up a local mountain with a friend yesterday and today we’re recovering on the sofa from a week of hiking, hill walking, and slightly-too-much food.

I’m alternating between reading some sci-fi on my e-reader (currently reading Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks), writing some psuedo-code for a single-user headless ActivityPub server I’m thinking of implementing for fun, and brewing tea. I might watch a movie later, if I get the urge.

Earlier, as part of a bonus Solstice gift, I set up my partner’s laptop with an N64 emulator, a USB N64-like controller, and some old games she enjoyed as a child so she’s on the other side of the sofa full of nostalgia and smiling, engrossed in her games.

Our cat is curled up on my feet and stretched out onto my partner’s lap; her favourite cuddle position.