When workers own companies, the economy is more resilient | Niki Okuk

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4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 28 August 2017

⏱️ 13 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Another economic reality is possible -- one that values community, sustainability and resiliency instead of profit by any means necessary. Niki Okuk shares her case for cooperative economics and a vision for how working-class people can organize and own the businesses they work for, making decisions for themselves and enjoying the fruits of their labor.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This TED Talk features worker-owner Nikki Okube, recorded live at TEDx Crenshaw 2016.
0:07.0	Are you tired of your boss?
0:11.0	Are you tired of going to work and making money for other people?
0:17.0	And who are those people anyways, those people that make money from your work?
0:22.7	Well, they're capitalists.
0:24.6	They have capital, and they use your labor to make more capital.
0:29.2	So if you're tired of going to work and making money for other people,
0:33.5	then you're probably like me just tired of capitalism,
0:37.3	which is ironic because I'm a capitalist.
0:42.3	I own a small business, RCO tires in Compton.
0:46.9	A few years ago when I read Van Jones and he wrote,
0:49.7	Let's make green collar jobs in the hood. I took him really seriously.
0:54.0	So I co-founded, own and operate,
0:56.9	a tire recycling company, and I'm really proud of what we've done. So far, we've recycled
1:01.1	100 million pounds of rubber. That's 21 million gallons of oil diverted from landfills into new
1:08.5	products. We also employ about 15 guys, mostly people of color, most of whom are felons,
1:15.9	and we pay above the minimum wage, and we are now proud members of the United Steelworkers
1:20.2	Union.
1:26.7	Now, RCO is not a cooperative now.
1:29.5	It's a privately held company with community-minded ownership.
1:33.1	But I would like it to become one.
1:34.8	I would like for them to fire the boss.
	...

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