Thanks for subscribing to /c/[email protected] ! Now that we've grown (and are growing) so quickly, I've had some calls to discuss what this community is for!

What we stand for

As the sidebar says, Work Reform aims to increase the share of rewards reaped by the workers (as opposed to capitalists - be it shareholders or owners), and make work more equitable. We do NOT aim to abolish labor altogether - I personally don’t think that’s a viable societal system. There is no known system in human history where majority of the population can subsist without doing anything in return.

What we need to do

I see a few things necessary to reform the current economic system - let’s call it Awareness, Advocacy and Action:

• Awareness means getting people to realise that the corporate propaganda they’re hearing isn’t the whole truth.
• Advocacy means going out and telling people to join the cause, form a local union, etc.
• Action means taking organized action - writing to politicians, organising dialogues and strikes, etc.

What this space can be used for

In short, all of the above!

• To raise Awareness, you can post anything that talks about the issue of wage disparity. That means venting about scummy practices, that means posting news that counters corporate propaganda, and that means posting memes and screenshots of relevant tweets.
• To engage in Advocacy, you can post news about organised action taking place elsewhere that we can celebrate or contribute to.
• To take Action, you can start a local chapter of your union, organize/engage in online campaigns, etc. This space can be used to help gather people for that purpose.

I personally think the most important thing now is to get more people to rally behind the cause (which means Action and Advocacy). But some of you have really good ideas on taking Action. So feel free to use this space for that purpose.

As it grows, we can discuss how best to use this community as well, so the rules may evolve over time.

cross-posted from: https://infosec.pub/post/49253806

1.4 Mission Statement The mission of the company is the well-being of all people. To accomplish this goal we will operate business ventures designed to generate income through which we can secure our own well-being and consequently become empowered to help others.

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Today we are witnessing the spectacular failure of Capitalism to provide for the needs of this planet and the people on it. In previous eras of class instability, the focus was often on the bifurcation between those who wish to dominate, and those who wish for a world without domination. While the ideals of a world free of domination are admirable, its proponents face the cold reality that those who specialize in domination are able to accumulate more power than those who do not seek it.

This need to dominate is typically associated with hierarchical organizations, and for good reason as they are the mechanism that allows individuals to accumulate unconstrained executive power. However, rather than trying to dismantle hierarchical systems, our collective recognizes them as an essential tool for problem-solving and productivity. We intend to capture and incorporate hierarchical management into large, democratically owned and managed cooperatives called “Strategic Unions”. This will enable organizations with similar power compared to today’s capitalist corporations, but with social equity and Article 1.4 as their most fundamental goals.

The plan is to deploy open-source Enterprise Resource Planning software to coordinate the efforts and voting that will take place in the co-op. You then recruit like-minded workers from your area to join your server and begin organizing and holding elections. At this point, workers in your cooperative will put forward business plans and become candidates for CEO. The members vote based on the candidate and the business plan, and the person who wins is not a dictator. They are a mandated agent of the co-op, and they are removable by vote. Their job is to coordinate the business project according to their plan in order to generate revenue.

After elections, you incorporate as a Strategic Union, which means filing Articles of Incorporation as a C-corporation in your state. You will then have bargaining power in your area based on the size and specialization of your workforce. You can use the Master Staffing Agreement template to negotiate labor contracts with local businesses. Your co-op members are hired out full time, so the member-worker gets a paycheck in a similar arrangement to a staffing or temp agency. The co-op gets paid by the hour and the amount left over after paying the worker (the margin) funds the CEO’s business plan. This allows for funded without capitalist investors. It’s a “bootstrapping” process, meaning the first business plan is self-starting. Once the staffing contracts are no longer needed, they are dropped.

Following this plan, you don’t have to work at the same business to organize a union. You set up your server and organize with whomever you like.

We are asking you to take on Article 1.4 as your personal mission and join our efforts. Or, we could ride the crapitalism train to wherever it may be headed. Your choice my friends.

Apoidea Group

https://codeberg.org/Brachylophus/Apoidea

https://codeberg.org/Brachylophus/Apoidea/src/branch/main/PHILOSOPHY.md (Manifesto)

https://codeberg.org/Brachylophus/Apoidea/src/branch/main/INCORPORATION.md (Articles of Incorporation, including 1.4)

https://codeberg.org/Brachylophus/Apoidea/src/branch/main/STAFFING.md (Master Staffing Agreement)

https://matrix.to/#%2F%21dVwyUzAwiuIflwnpEF%3Amatrix.org%3Fvia=matrix.org (Chat rooms)

I want to create a community that is something like a mixture of anti-work, permaculture, and solarpnk, but I don't have good name ideas. Any idea?

Hello folks,

I posted about a month ago introducing the idea of a “Strategic Union”, a cooperative management model that separates administrative oversight from operational management, hopefully leading to healthier and more productive workplaces for everyone involved. To implement this, I’ve started developing Enterprise Resource Planning software specifically for this type of company, and a small team is forming, but we need more contributors.

The model and software are intended to enable the growth of these cooperatives into large, problem-solving organizations interested in complex, integrated projects such as major bridges, sustainable residential skyscrapers, or high-volume manufacturing lines, to name a few. It should also work for a variety of other applications such as large retail chains and restaurants.

The idea is anchored in the philosophy of Hierarchy by Consent, which examines the role of hierarchies in society and whether we really want to get rid of them or instead bring them under democratic control to the benefit of all.

• Hierarchy by Consent argues that hierarchies are necessary for complex projects involving large teams, but they must be constrained by a democratically elected body which prevents the hierarchy from reinforcing its own control structures (anacyclosis).
• The paper explains the Strategic Union management model and how it maintains stability and social equity without sacrificing productivity.
• The paper concludes by calling for the creation of an alliance of these companies to build counterpower.

We’ve all had a bad boss, I get it. But I’ve also had good bosses, who take the stress of the job in stride to help the team coordinate their efforts. In this model, the entire team participates in mutual performance reviews designed to provide constructive peer-feedback and, if desired, can be used to adjust hourly rates within an agreed upon pay band. Mediation will also be available, with escalation to an anonymous vote if needed.

Read Hierarchy by Consent.

Apoidea Cooperative Management Suite: I started a repository on Codeberg for Enterprise Resource Planning software to manage these organizations, and we’re looking for contributors. So far I have had a small contribution from a part-timer, and I’m hoping some of you might take interest as well. I’m particularly hopeful to find someone else to realize their own vision on the front-end. Of course, the more folks looking at this, the better.

• Tech stack: Docker (soon Podman), postgres, nginx, SQLAlchemy, gunicorn, jinja2, Flask, Alembic, and Redis. Frappe Gantt will be necesarry for the project planning system on the front-end.

• The eventual goal is to host it on a server and run a test case with “points” instead of money.

Apoidea on Codeberg

Programmer or not, we still need your help! Our Community on Matrix is small but growing, and we’d love to have you. Send me a PM if you’re new to Matrix.

I’ll be around to answer your questions and consider your critiques, as that is what is really needed to get this project off the ground. I’m going to include some of my own questions and FAQs as comments, so please forgive the clutter.

Thank you.