U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) speaks to striking Kellogg's workers in downtown Battle Creek, Michigan on December 17, 2021.
Sanders' Bill to Expand Worker Ownership Passes Senate in Omnibus
"This modest but effective legislation will go a long way to ensuring workers have the tools they need to have a seat at the table they worked to build."
Legislation that Sen. Bernie Sanders unveiled 13 years ago to help boost workplace democracy and curb worsening inequality in the United States was included in the $1.7 trillion omnibus package approved by the Senate on Thursday.
Modeled on the success of employee ownership centers in Ohio and Vermont, Sanders' (I-Vt.) Worker Ownership, Readiness, and Knowledge (WORK) Act authorizes a $50 million grant program to help create and expand employee ownership centers around the country.
As Sanders' office explained:
These centers provide workers with the tools they need to own their own businesses through employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) or eligible worker-owned cooperatives. This act will authorize the [U.S.] Department of Labor to provide education and outreach, training, and technical support for local and state programs dedicated to the promotion of employee ownership and participation. Sanders helped establish the Vermont Employee Ownership Center in 2001 and first introduced the WORK Act in 2009. Sanders also secured $158,000 for the Vermont Employee Ownership Center as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022 earlier this year.
"Workers deserve an ownership stake in the companies they work for, a say in the decisions that impact their lives, and a fair share of the profits that their work makes possible," Sanders said Thursday in a statement.
"This modest but effective legislation will go a long way to ensuring workers have the tools they need to have a seat at the table they worked to build," he continued. "By making sure workers have their seat and their voices are heard, we can start to create an economy that works for all of us, not just the wealthy few."
"Workers deserve an ownership stake in the companies they work for, a say in the decisions that impact their lives, and a fair share of the profits that their work makes possible."
Research has shown that worker ownership leads to higher wages, better benefits, a more secure retirement, and reduced gender and racial wealth disparities. In addition, employee-owned enterprises see lower turnover and increased output. Sanders' office attributes these positive effects to improved "employee morale, dedication, creativity, and productivity, as workers share in profits and have more control over their own work lives."
Other studies have shown that worker-owned companies in the U.S. are less likely to outsource jobs and more likely to experience stronger profits and shareholder returns. According to one recent analysis, scaling up employee ownership could quadruple the share of wealth held by the bottom 50% of U.S. households.
In 2019, roughly 25 million workers in the U.S. already owned some stock in the company where they were employed, according to Sanders' office. More than 10,000 enterprises currently use some type of employee ownership model, improving material circumstances for millions of working people nationwide.
"On behalf of the more than 10 million American households that already benefit from an ESOP, we are deeply grateful to Sen. Sanders for his dedication to include the WORK Act in the omnibus," Jim Bonham, president and CEO of the ESOP Association, said Thursday.
"Starting years ago with the Vermont Employee Ownership Center that he helped create, we have learned that increased education, awareness, and feasibility grants directly results in more employee-owned businesses and now those lessons can be applied across the nation," said Bonham. "More employee-owned businesses mean more stable local jobs, higher incomes, increased retirement savings, better work environments, and more productivity for our economy."
The omnibus package, which funds the federal government through 2023, also includes the first budget increase for the National Labor Relations Board in nearly a decade, as Sanders' office noted.
The massive, 4,100-plus-page bill now heads to the House. It must be approved by lawmakers in the lower chamber and signed into law by President Joe Biden by Friday to avoid a painful government shutdown.
Urgent. It's never been this bad.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just two days to go in our Spring Campaign, we're falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Legislation that Sen. Bernie Sanders unveiled 13 years ago to help boost workplace democracy and curb worsening inequality in the United States was included in the $1.7 trillion omnibus package approved by the Senate on Thursday.
Modeled on the success of employee ownership centers in Ohio and Vermont, Sanders' (I-Vt.) Worker Ownership, Readiness, and Knowledge (WORK) Act authorizes a $50 million grant program to help create and expand employee ownership centers around the country.
As Sanders' office explained:
These centers provide workers with the tools they need to own their own businesses through employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) or eligible worker-owned cooperatives. This act will authorize the [U.S.] Department of Labor to provide education and outreach, training, and technical support for local and state programs dedicated to the promotion of employee ownership and participation. Sanders helped establish the Vermont Employee Ownership Center in 2001 and first introduced the WORK Act in 2009. Sanders also secured $158,000 for the Vermont Employee Ownership Center as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022 earlier this year.
"Workers deserve an ownership stake in the companies they work for, a say in the decisions that impact their lives, and a fair share of the profits that their work makes possible," Sanders said Thursday in a statement.
"This modest but effective legislation will go a long way to ensuring workers have the tools they need to have a seat at the table they worked to build," he continued. "By making sure workers have their seat and their voices are heard, we can start to create an economy that works for all of us, not just the wealthy few."
"Workers deserve an ownership stake in the companies they work for, a say in the decisions that impact their lives, and a fair share of the profits that their work makes possible."
Research has shown that worker ownership leads to higher wages, better benefits, a more secure retirement, and reduced gender and racial wealth disparities. In addition, employee-owned enterprises see lower turnover and increased output. Sanders' office attributes these positive effects to improved "employee morale, dedication, creativity, and productivity, as workers share in profits and have more control over their own work lives."
Other studies have shown that worker-owned companies in the U.S. are less likely to outsource jobs and more likely to experience stronger profits and shareholder returns. According to one recent analysis, scaling up employee ownership could quadruple the share of wealth held by the bottom 50% of U.S. households.
In 2019, roughly 25 million workers in the U.S. already owned some stock in the company where they were employed, according to Sanders' office. More than 10,000 enterprises currently use some type of employee ownership model, improving material circumstances for millions of working people nationwide.
"On behalf of the more than 10 million American households that already benefit from an ESOP, we are deeply grateful to Sen. Sanders for his dedication to include the WORK Act in the omnibus," Jim Bonham, president and CEO of the ESOP Association, said Thursday.
"Starting years ago with the Vermont Employee Ownership Center that he helped create, we have learned that increased education, awareness, and feasibility grants directly results in more employee-owned businesses and now those lessons can be applied across the nation," said Bonham. "More employee-owned businesses mean more stable local jobs, higher incomes, increased retirement savings, better work environments, and more productivity for our economy."
The omnibus package, which funds the federal government through 2023, also includes the first budget increase for the National Labor Relations Board in nearly a decade, as Sanders' office noted.
The massive, 4,100-plus-page bill now heads to the House. It must be approved by lawmakers in the lower chamber and signed into law by President Joe Biden by Friday to avoid a painful government shutdown.
- Yearly Wages of Most US Workers Grew Just 28% Since 1979 But 'Skyrocketed' for Top 0.1% ›
- Analysis Shows 'Quiet Fleecing' of US Workers--Not 'Quiet Quitting'--Is the Real Problem ›
- Opinion | Employee Ownership: A Surprisingly Bipartisan Solution to Inequality | Common Dreams ›
Legislation that Sen. Bernie Sanders unveiled 13 years ago to help boost workplace democracy and curb worsening inequality in the United States was included in the $1.7 trillion omnibus package approved by the Senate on Thursday.
Modeled on the success of employee ownership centers in Ohio and Vermont, Sanders' (I-Vt.) Worker Ownership, Readiness, and Knowledge (WORK) Act authorizes a $50 million grant program to help create and expand employee ownership centers around the country.
As Sanders' office explained:
These centers provide workers with the tools they need to own their own businesses through employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) or eligible worker-owned cooperatives. This act will authorize the [U.S.] Department of Labor to provide education and outreach, training, and technical support for local and state programs dedicated to the promotion of employee ownership and participation. Sanders helped establish the Vermont Employee Ownership Center in 2001 and first introduced the WORK Act in 2009. Sanders also secured $158,000 for the Vermont Employee Ownership Center as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022 earlier this year.
"Workers deserve an ownership stake in the companies they work for, a say in the decisions that impact their lives, and a fair share of the profits that their work makes possible," Sanders said Thursday in a statement.
"This modest but effective legislation will go a long way to ensuring workers have the tools they need to have a seat at the table they worked to build," he continued. "By making sure workers have their seat and their voices are heard, we can start to create an economy that works for all of us, not just the wealthy few."
"Workers deserve an ownership stake in the companies they work for, a say in the decisions that impact their lives, and a fair share of the profits that their work makes possible."
Research has shown that worker ownership leads to higher wages, better benefits, a more secure retirement, and reduced gender and racial wealth disparities. In addition, employee-owned enterprises see lower turnover and increased output. Sanders' office attributes these positive effects to improved "employee morale, dedication, creativity, and productivity, as workers share in profits and have more control over their own work lives."
Other studies have shown that worker-owned companies in the U.S. are less likely to outsource jobs and more likely to experience stronger profits and shareholder returns. According to one recent analysis, scaling up employee ownership could quadruple the share of wealth held by the bottom 50% of U.S. households.
In 2019, roughly 25 million workers in the U.S. already owned some stock in the company where they were employed, according to Sanders' office. More than 10,000 enterprises currently use some type of employee ownership model, improving material circumstances for millions of working people nationwide.
"On behalf of the more than 10 million American households that already benefit from an ESOP, we are deeply grateful to Sen. Sanders for his dedication to include the WORK Act in the omnibus," Jim Bonham, president and CEO of the ESOP Association, said Thursday.
"Starting years ago with the Vermont Employee Ownership Center that he helped create, we have learned that increased education, awareness, and feasibility grants directly results in more employee-owned businesses and now those lessons can be applied across the nation," said Bonham. "More employee-owned businesses mean more stable local jobs, higher incomes, increased retirement savings, better work environments, and more productivity for our economy."
The omnibus package, which funds the federal government through 2023, also includes the first budget increase for the National Labor Relations Board in nearly a decade, as Sanders' office noted.
The massive, 4,100-plus-page bill now heads to the House. It must be approved by lawmakers in the lower chamber and signed into law by President Joe Biden by Friday to avoid a painful government shutdown.
- Yearly Wages of Most US Workers Grew Just 28% Since 1979 But 'Skyrocketed' for Top 0.1% ›
- Analysis Shows 'Quiet Fleecing' of US Workers--Not 'Quiet Quitting'--Is the Real Problem ›
- Opinion | Employee Ownership: A Surprisingly Bipartisan Solution to Inequality | Common Dreams ›