Worker cooperatives: alternative governance for caring and precarious work

• Pages: 376-391
• Date: 21 May 2018
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-02-2017-0027
• Published date: 21 May 2018
• Author: Daphne Berry,Myrtle P. Bell
• Subject Matter: HR & organizational behaviour,Employment law,Diversity, equality, inclusion

Worker cooperatives: alternative

governance for caring and

precarious work

Daphne Berry

Department of Management, Marketing, and Entrepreneurship,

University of Hartford, West Hartford, Connecticut, USA, and

Myrtle P. Bell

Department of Management,

University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, Texas, USA

Abstract

Purpose –Precariouswork, characterizedby low wages, unpredictableschedules and hours, physicalhazards,

and stressfulpsychosocial conditions, is a significant problem inthe twenty-first century US economy.It most

harshly affects women, racial/ethnic minorities, and immigrants. Caring labor jobs often involve precarious

work and home healthaide jobs are among the most precariousof these. With an ageing populationcreating

high demandand a decline in the numberof available workers, a societalcrisis looms. The purposeof this paper

is to discuss a business formthat could positively impact the home care work environment.

Design/methodology/approach –This paper reviews previous research to call for closer examination of

worker cooperatives as a means to reduce precarious work among home health care workers.

Findings –Worker cooperatives provide opportunities for economic empowerment for impoverished and

marginalized workers. Cooperative Home Care Associates, a worker cooperative in the home care industry,

reports better outcomes to workers than similar conventionally governed businesses.

Research limitations/implications –This paperreviews results of a study comparingthree organizational

forms in the home healthindustry. Although there are relatively few worker cooperatives in the USA, future

research should investigate this structureboth where there is a low-wage labor force, and in general.

Practical implications –Better outcomes for employees in the worker cooperative suggest that this is a

viable business form for workers in precarious work environments.

Social implications –The paper highlights the features of an organizational form that could help alleviate

social ills caused by precarious work.

Originality/value –This paper considers the structure and function of a business form little studied in the

management discipline. Based on their unique features and possibilities, worker cooperatives should be of

interest to equality, diversity, and inclusion scholars; and to strategy, organizational behavior, and

entrepreneurship scholars.

Keywords Ethnic minorities, Women, Social enterprises, Caring labour, Precarious work,

Worker cooperatives

Paper type Viewpoint

Today, home care[1] work and workers remain largely invisible –highly valued by individuals and

families who need them but undervalued by society as a whole […] When the economy’s

highest-growth jobs pay poverty wages, the future is precarious for all. (PHI, 2015, p. 9, 13)

Introduction

Precarious work is work that, in comparison to other occupations, is characterized by

more unpredictable work schedules and hours, workplace physical hazards, stressful

psychosocial conditions, and fewer benefits such as paid sick leave, health insurance

coverage, or vacation (Kalleberg, 2009; McDowell et al., 2009). Precarious work is also

characterized by the high turnover which is often found in low-skill labor market

conditions. People in precarious jobs often have few credentials, and the work is

disproportionately performed by racial/ethnic minorities, women, and immigrants

(Anderson, 2010; Kalleberg, 2009).

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Journal

Vol. 37 No. 4, 2018

pp. 376-391

© Emerald PublishingLimited

2040-7149

DOI 10.1108/EDI-02-2017-0027

Received 1 February 2017

Revised 14 June 2017

19 August 2017

Accepted 15 September 2017

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/2040-7149.htm

376

EDI

37,4

In the USA, the work that home health aides perform fits the characteristics of precarious

work (Aronsonand Neysmith, 1996; Quinlanet al., 2001). Home health aides helptheir clients –

people with disabilities, chronic illness, and cognitive impairments –with activities of daily

living and related services, such as checking vital signs or administering medication,

organizing schedules, arranging transportation, performing light housekeeping, shopping,

and helping clients to stay engaged in their own communities (BLS, 2017). Approximately

90 percent of home healthaide workers in the USA are women and more than half are racial

and ethnic minorities (PHI, 2015). Working conditions include a higher likelihood of back

injury as aideshelp clients with their mobility;exposure to infections,communicable diseases,

and violent behaviors; and the physical and emotional stresses of dealing with clients with

cognitive impairments and mental health issues (BLS, 2017). Only in 2015 were wage and

overtime minimumlaws that had covered nearly allother US workers for decades changedto

also coverhome health aides, who had been specifically excluded(Berry and Bell, 2012; United

States Departmentof Labor, 2013; USDOL, 2015a). The low compensation and generallypoor

working conditionsof the work contribute to high turnover and a growing shortage of labor

for these jobsdespite high and increasing demand(BLS, 2017; PHI, 2016). The counterintuitive

condition of high demand for home health aide labor, concurrent with low compensation

exists partly because of the historical positioning of the work socially and politically,

government payments for many recipients of the care, and high numbers of profit-seeking

businesses in the sector (Boris and Klein, 2015; Burbridge, 1993; National Employment Law

Project (NELP), 2015; Span, 2016). In the USA, with a gap between the number of workers

willing and able to perform this work, and the growing number of people needing care, a

health care crisis looms (BLS, 2017; PHI, 2015).

Management scholars have sought to broaden their research agendas beyond

productivity and profits for businesses to include societal problems, such as those

mentioned above, that are the impacted by business activity (Driver, 2012; Ghoshal, 2005;

Handy, 2002; Tsui, 2013; Walsh et al., 2003). The home health care sector is a fitting industry

in need of a closer look by management researchers. Cooperative Home Care Associates

(CHCA) –a home health care business and the largest worker cooperative in the USA –is a

model for governance and work practices that appear to be good for workers in this

industry that is characterized by precarious jobs. In general, worker cooperatives with their

distinct governance characteristics may consistently provide better work environments for

home health aide workers; and we believe their features are uniquely suited to help address

some of the problems of precarious work environments found in most work situations in the

home health industry in the USA.

The purpose of this paper is to consider an organizational form, specifically a worker

cooperative, which may be generally more conducive to the establishment of less

precarious work environments for home health aide workers. Although not a panacea,

worker cooperatives have the potential to address many of the ills associated with this

type of work, and may also help change understandings of the possibilities of the

relationships between businesses and a larger group of their stakeholders. In the following

sections, we first discuss the complex problems associated with home health aide work in

the USA and the influe nces of the gender, race, ethnic ity, and class of the workers on the

precarity of the work. We discuss how its history and structure are conducive to the

excesses of a conventional[2] capitalist business model characterized by benefits to

business owners and their agents while facilitating precarious work environments.

Next, we consider the social enterprise as a business model designed to counter the

excesses of more conventional profits-focused enterprises and worker cooperatives as a

form of social enterprise. We review and discuss findings from Berry (2011) which suggest

that worker cooperatives possess features that render them more conducive to equitable

and fair work environments for home health aides in the USA. We conclude with

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cooperatives