Great information here, Richard, thank you for sharing it.<br><br>RCA<br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Feb 24, 2011 at 11:00 AM, Richard Schulte <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:richard@flywheelcollective.com">richard@flywheelcollective.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">Thanks Sam for bringing this up!<br>
<br>
Flywheel had the pleasure of meeting with the Ohio Employee Ownership<br>
Center several days ago. We brought up this specific concept to Roy<br>
Messing, their Cooperative Development Program director, and he brought<br>
up a few possible constraints, but definitely an interest in the<br>
possibilities.<br>
<br>
Apparently it varies widely state by state, but laws around the use of<br>
pension funds, 401(k) programs, health funds, and other major benefit<br>
funds which are often held in common by workers can be somewhat<br>
restrictive towards investment. However, he expressed that he would be<br>
further exploring the possibilities and spreading the idea. The<br>
additional option is that some of the companies who employ these workers<br>
may also be interested in contributing towards these investments, and<br>
the imagination widens when other community investment groups are<br>
involved.<br>
<br>
After reflecting on that option, it seems that peer-based manufacturing<br>
could present a very interesting opportunity for many of the extant<br>
manufacturers to be able to assist in the 'fill-in' of their supply<br>
chains by lending towards the creation of extensive networks of small,<br>
agile, and lean micromanufacturing shops employing p2p methods.<br>
<br>
Investment bodies<br>
-----<br>
<br>
Collective Assets<br>
<br>
- Pension Funds - these are often restricted to only 8-15% out at any<br>
given time, especially as older generations begin to collect retirement.<br>
However, this could change with legislation that may or may not already<br>
be out there.<br>
- Health benefits plans<br>
- 401(k) Plans - many unions found their pension funds tapped out by<br>
shoddy investment practices and switched to these plans. The issue<br>
being that they have less control as these are often managed by more<br>
conglomerated entities.<br>
- Collective investment stocks such as ESOP plans and worker equity<br>
<br>
Community Assets<br>
<br>
- Credit Unions - Federal CUs are restricted to about 25% of their<br>
assets being allocated towards business loans, however legislation is<br>
being considered that would bump this up to 50%. Of course its on the<br>
backburner, but with greater pressure that could change.<br>
- Building & Loan Funds - These are co-op institutions as well that can<br>
invest in building projects, commercial building loans, and other types<br>
of business loans.<br>
- Community Banks - Smallscale community banks can also put a lot of<br>
weight behind things, and are often not as restricted as credit unions.<br>
- Distributed Community Lending - so say you are starting a local worker<br>
co-op, and folks all over town are excited about it. Give them the<br>
chance to invest directly in the business, or possibly a many-to-many<br>
RLF in your community!<br>
<br>
FAQ<br>
<br>
<br>
Question: Why focus on such small and localized entities? Don't they<br>
have less capital?<br>
<br>
Answer: There is greater reliability, especially in distressed times, as<br>
these types of institutions are less likely to have risky investment<br>
portfolios. They have very significant levels of capital to work with<br>
as adoption of their services grow because of greater consumer<br>
confidence and local identity.<br>
<br>
A good example of collective benefits in action was during the Hugo Boss<br>
debacle. Remember - Hugo Boss's shareholders were getting antsy and<br>
trying to close down a Cleveland facility to move it to Turkey. Despite<br>
lots of great on the ground organizing, the battle was almost lost until<br>
a very unexpected development occurred - just before the shareholders<br>
made the decision to liquidate the assets of the Cleveland operation,<br>
the company in Columbus that managed the pension funds, retirement<br>
plans, and collective benefits of the Hugo Boss workers, who happened to<br>
own 20% of the shares of the company, threatened divestment if the<br>
operation moved overseas. The tables were turned, and the collectively<br>
held benefits of the workers actually wielded enough weight to stop a<br>
major company in its tracks.<br>
<br>
<br>
Question: Why not target larger, more conglomerated financial entities,<br>
venture capital funds, etc.?<br>
<br>
Answer: Consider their priorities- most financial entities that have<br>
stake in wallstreet and global commerce have competitive investments<br>
elsewhere to the united states, especially in manufacturing. They<br>
demand faster and higher returns, and often are less likely to foster<br>
projects that do not fit their vision. Having these kinds of investors<br>
often leads to uncertainty and poor management of projects, as<br>
shareholders will often not share the interests of the workers. Also,<br>
with experience from major venture capital programs in our area such as<br>
NorTech and JumpStart (pres. Obama just spoke with these folks), we are<br>
WELL aware of how antsy these folks get just around open source software<br>
- and they are IP obsessed. Presenting them with Open Hardware Licenses<br>
would probably drive them up the wall.<br>
<br>
<br>
Strategic Considerations<br>
- - - -<br>
<br>
What Unions often provide in the greatest is a huge base of members, and<br>
often a very progressive vision (take the United Steel Workers, for<br>
example). They are motivated to get their workers on the job<br>
(especially in manufacturing), and know how to mobilize resources around<br>
such things as training, certifications, and institutional support.<br>
They can attract state and federal funding for recruitment and training<br>
programs, and help with compliance. Unions can also give a lot of<br>
credence and credibility to any kind of campaign or concept, across many<br>
spheres of social and political influence.<br>
<br>
Gap Financing - Union benefit plans and worker equity could act as a gap<br>
financing measure, or a vote of confidence, to attract additional<br>
funding from community financial institutions. For example, they could<br>
cover the down payment for a building and initial equipment costs of a<br>
new operation. This would boost confidence from, say, some local credit<br>
unions or social investors, and they would provide investment or loans<br>
towards further building costs, initial feedstocks and payroll.<br>
<br>
Revolving Loan Funds - We already have a RLF in Ohio that acts as a gap<br>
financing program for ESOPs, Worker Co-ops and the like. You can<br>
receive a loan of up to $15,000 from them, however they have community<br>
partners who will match these loans up to a total of $350,000. It's<br>
called the Commonwealth Revolving Loan Fund, and it is actually<br>
administered by Roy Messing (who I mention above).<br>
<br>
RLFs are a great strategic move because they make the messiness of many<br>
to many investment a more streamlined process. All of the financial<br>
bodies mentioned above can invest in these funds, and with steady<br>
returns this can lower their risk (something very important these days<br>
for collective benefits). There is not a great amount of complexity<br>
involved either - invest and get returns. The institutions and social<br>
investors who are investing in these RLFs could also give guidance to<br>
some of the folks who are seeking investment (which can be very<br>
helpful), and possibly give additional financial support where RLFs are<br>
acting as a gap financing measure.<br>
<br>
Business Incubators - The business incubator model is huge. It's what<br>
gets politicians, unions, investors and whatnot all excited. There are<br>
some pretty good models here - pooling costs for buildings, utility<br>
costs, and shared financial, legal, and other helpful services. These<br>
often receive a lot of government funding, which is often pretty<br>
hands-off. A p2p manufacturing incubator, in a more forward thinking<br>
area, would not be a difficult effort (should i say the Bay Area?). Then<br>
again, it may not even be impossible in the midwest, if the right<br>
factors come together.<br>
<br>
Also, combined with the concept of Business Incubators could be<br>
EcoIndustrial Parks. Imagine the incubators above growing into<br>
prototyping and fab shops. You would have offices where people design,<br>
engineer, unit test, etc. They would send g-code and other designs down<br>
to the shop floor where parts that could be printed would be printed, in<br>
addition to those parts that could be torch cut, machined, pressed,<br>
injection molded, etc. These prototypes could even be a side effort to<br>
the actual production process, which could be happening in the same<br>
shared facility! The EcoIndustrial aspect would be that the industrial<br>
facilities would be combined - possibly through some off-grid<br>
co-generation scheme, providing heat and electricity. The fabbed goods<br>
would be produced using green practices, and possibly have the same<br>
implications (OEM parts for electric vehicles, solar arrays, turbines,<br>
biogas operatons; equipment for agroecological operations - anything<br>
from soil blockers to remote climate sensing equipment.) Green P2P<br>
would attract A LOT of attention, funding and subsidies. There are also<br>
very real supply chains that such operations would easily nudge into,<br>
even out here in the midwest. Especially when there are TONS of empty<br>
industrial parks all throughout the rural midwest (and urban) that have<br>
all the infrastructure in place, state and federal funding ready and<br>
waiting to subdisize any use of them, and entire communities of folks<br>
around them who would be glad to get to work!<br>
<br>
<br>
Conclusion<br>
-----<br>
<br>
So, really, there are a lot of opportunities for unions to act as an<br>
arbiter and confidence builder in p2p manufacturing. They have many of<br>
the resources that are needed - and unlike venture capitalists - are not<br>
going to consider manufacturing in "knowledge economy" nations to be<br>
abhorrent or competitive with their investments. On the other side of<br>
the coin, Unions are also beginning to show a lot of international<br>
solidarity, so there would be less resistance than one might anticipate<br>
to, say, international p2p supply chains if they were sustainable and<br>
fostered the growth of manufacturing in NA and Europe.<br>
<br>
Most importantly, they offer the advantage of oversight and collective<br>
bargaining in more tough situations. As the p2p manufacturing economy<br>
unfolds, one must pay close attention to the treatment of workers, to<br>
safety and to the fairness of pay and benefits. Definately the worker-<br>
co-op model affords for some measure of workplace democracy, but when<br>
there is no agency outside your own shop you can get stuck. This is why<br>
our worker co-op is joining the IWW - not to mention the excitement of<br>
being a part of an international movement of worker solidarity.<br>
<br>
P.S. - Michel - I can turn this into a p2p blog post here soon if you<br>
like, with some polishing :)<br>
<font color="#888888"><br>
--<br>
Richard Schulte<br>
<br>
Flywheel Tech Collective<br>
</font><div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
On Thu, 2011-02-24 at 15:28 +0700, Michel Bauwens wrote:<br>
> Dear Sam,<br>
><br>
> copying two more union-p2p friends on this dialogue,<br>
><br>
> Michel<br>
><br>
> On Thu, Feb 24, 2011 at 10:35 AM, Samuel Rose <<a href="mailto:samuel.rose@gmail.com">samuel.rose@gmail.com</a>><br>
> wrote:<br>
> Thanks Mark,<br>
><br>
> This a long-term perspective/investment. Based on an ideas<br>
> first<br>
> articulated to me by Richard Schulte of Flywheel Tech<br>
> Collective, who<br>
> is copied on this email, the idea is to work with Unions to<br>
> start<br>
> building worker-owned cooperatives of various types,<br>
> especially based<br>
> around production and design of open source<br>
> technologies/software.<br>
> Mark, I copied you because I know that you've been in dialogue<br>
> with<br>
> Unions right here in Michigan for years. I wondered if you<br>
> might know<br>
> of some Union folks here in Michigan that might be candidates<br>
> for this<br>
> type of thing?<br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> On Wed, Feb 23, 2011 at 10:26 PM, Mark Dilley<br>
> <<a href="mailto:markwdilley@gmail.com">markwdilley@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
> > Sam - thank you for sending this out what seems so many<br>
> days ago - I have been following this pretty keenly and am<br>
> curious about the title of your email "+ Unions and P2P<br>
> alternatives"<br>
> ><br>
> > open ears from anyone here.<br>
> ><br>
> > Best, Mark<br>
> ><br>
> ><br>
> > On 19Feb2011, at 5:19 PM, Samuel Rose wrote:<br>
> ><br>
> >> "What's happening in Wisconsin is not complicated. At the<br>
> beginning of<br>
> >> this year, the state was on course to end 2011 with a<br>
> budget surplus<br>
> >> of $120 million. As Ezra Klein explained, newly elected GOP<br>
> Governor<br>
> >> Scott Walker then " signed two business tax breaks and a<br>
> conservative<br>
> >> health-care policy experiment that lowers overall tax<br>
> revenues (among<br>
> >> other things). The new legislation was not offset, and it<br>
> turned a<br>
> >> surplus into a deficit."<br>
> >><br>
> >> Walker then used the deficit he'd created as the<br>
> justification for<br>
> >> assaulting his state's public employees. He used a law<br>
> cooked up by a<br>
> >> right-wing advocacy group called the American Legislative<br>
> Exchange<br>
> >> Council (ALEC). ALEC likes to fly beneath the radar, but I<br>
> described<br>
> >> the organization in a 2005 article as "the connective<br>
> tissue that<br>
> >> links state legislators with right-wing think tanks,<br>
> leading anti-tax<br>
> >> activists and corporate money." Similar laws are on the<br>
> table in Ohio<br>
> >> and Indiana.<br>
> >><br>
> >> Walker's bill would strip public employees of the right to<br>
> bargain<br>
> >> collectively for anything but higher pay (and would cap the<br>
> amount of<br>
> >> wage hikes they might end up gaining in negotiations). His<br>
> intentions<br>
> >> are clear -- before assuming office, Walker threatened to<br>
> decertify<br>
> >> the state's employees' unions (until he discovered that the<br>
> governor<br>
> >> doesn't have that power)."<br>
> >><br>
> >><br>
> <a href="http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/479560/12_things_you_need_to_know_about_the_uprising_in_wisconsin/" target="_blank">http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/479560/12_things_you_need_to_know_about_the_uprising_in_wisconsin/</a><br>
> >> _______<br>
> >><br>
> >><br>
> >><br>
> >> Aso worth reading:<br>
> >><br>
> >><br>
> <a href="http://prop-press.typepad.com/blog/2011/02/report-from-day-five-first-chance-to-reflect.html" target="_blank">http://prop-press.typepad.com/blog/2011/02/report-from-day-five-first-chance-to-reflect.html</a><br>
> >><br>
> >><br>
> >><br>
> ________________________________________________________________________<br>
> >><br>
> >><br>
> >> I think the time is here to start talking with people about<br>
> >><br>
> <a href="http://p2pfoundation.net/The_Political_Principles_of_Peer-to-Peer_Advocacy" target="_blank">http://p2pfoundation.net/The_Political_Principles_of_Peer-to-Peer_Advocacy</a><br>
> >> here, in the Industrial Midwest (which includes WI)<br>
> >><br>
> >> One simple way to route around party politics is to give<br>
> people a<br>
> >> direct p2p way to actively reflect existing poltics as we<br>
> saw in<br>
> >> iceland with <a href="http://skuggathing.is/portal" target="_blank">http://skuggathing.is/portal</a> based on<br>
> >> <a href="https://github.com/rbjarnason/open-active-democracy" target="_blank">https://github.com/rbjarnason/open-active-democracy</a><br>
> >><br>
> >> Another parallel approach is to start applying collective<br>
> decision<br>
> >> making and pooling of resources directly to problems people<br>
> are<br>
> >> addressing. In addition, creating cooperatives, supporting<br>
> alternative<br>
> >> currencies when appropriate.<br>
> >><br>
> >> Unions in all of these states have resources, including<br>
> pension funds,<br>
> >> that they could invest directly in worker-owned cooperative<br>
> companies,<br>
> >> as has been discussed by Richard Schulte of<br>
> flywheeltechcollective in<br>
> >> the past. Some of them have expressed interest in doing<br>
> this. These<br>
> >> kinds of changes for entities like unions are long term<br>
> changes and<br>
> >> investments, and will take time. However, I think every<br>
> year that goes<br>
> >> by makes more and more on the left receptive to p2p<br>
> alternatives.<br>
> >><br>
> >> If people are interested in working on P2P political<br>
> advocacy and<br>
> >> approaches in 2011-2012, let's talk here and continue to<br>
> build towards<br>
> >> thing people can really use in places like Wisconsin, Ohio,<br>
> Michigan,<br>
> >> Eastern Europe, South America, etc<br>
> >><br>
> >><br>
> >><br>
> >> --<br>
> >> --<br>
> >> Sam Rose<br>
> >> Future Forward Institute and Forward Foundation<br>
> >> Tel:<a href="tel:%2B1%28517%29%20639-1552">+1(517) 639-1552</a><br>
> >> Cel: <a href="tel:%2B1-%28517%29-974-6451">+1-(517)-974-6451</a><br>
> >> skype: samuelrose<br>
> >> email: <a href="mailto:samuel.rose@gmail.com">samuel.rose@gmail.com</a><br>
> >> <a href="http://forwardfound.org" target="_blank">http://forwardfound.org</a><br>
> >> <a href="http://futureforwardinstitute.org" target="_blank">http://futureforwardinstitute.org</a><br>
> >> <a href="http://hollymeadcapital.com" target="_blank">http://hollymeadcapital.com</a><br>
> >> <a href="http://p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://p2pfoundation.net</a><br>
> >> <a href="http://socialmediaclassroom.com" target="_blank">http://socialmediaclassroom.com</a><br>
> >><br>
> >> "The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with<br>
> human<br>
> >> ambition." - Carl Sagan<br>
> ><br>
> ><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> --<br>
> --<br>
> Sam Rose<br>
> Future Forward Institute and Forward Foundation<br>
> Tel:<a href="tel:%2B1%28517%29%20639-1552">+1(517) 639-1552</a><br>
> Cel: <a href="tel:%2B1-%28517%29-974-6451">+1-(517)-974-6451</a><br>
> skype: samuelrose<br>
> email: <a href="mailto:samuel.rose@gmail.com">samuel.rose@gmail.com</a><br>
> <a href="http://forwardfound.org" target="_blank">http://forwardfound.org</a><br>
> <a href="http://futureforwardinstitute.org" target="_blank">http://futureforwardinstitute.org</a><br>
> <a href="http://hollymeadcapital.com" target="_blank">http://hollymeadcapital.com</a><br>
> <a href="http://p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://p2pfoundation.net</a><br>
> <a href="http://socialmediaclassroom.com" target="_blank">http://socialmediaclassroom.com</a><br>
><br>
> "The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with<br>
> human<br>
> ambition." - Carl Sagan<br>
><br>
> _______________________________________________<br>
> P2P Foundation - Mailing list<br>
> <a href="http://www.p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://www.p2pfoundation.net</a><br>
> <a href="https://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation" target="_blank">https://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation</a><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> --<br>
> P2P Foundation: <a href="http://p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://p2pfoundation.net</a> -<br>
> <a href="http://blog.p2pfoundation.net" target="_blank">http://blog.p2pfoundation.net</a><br>
><br>
> Connect: <a href="http://p2pfoundation.ning.com" target="_blank">http://p2pfoundation.ning.com</a>; Discuss:<br>
> <a href="http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation" target="_blank">http://lists.ourproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/p2p-foundation</a><br>
><br>
> Updates: <a href="http://del.icio.us/mbauwens" target="_blank">http://del.icio.us/mbauwens</a>; <a href="http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens" target="_blank">http://friendfeed.com/mbauwens</a>;<br>
> <a href="http://twitter.com/mbauwens" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/mbauwens</a>; <a href="http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/mbauwens</a><br>
><br>
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</div></div></blockquote></div><br>