TEDxCrenshaw
Niki Okuk: When workers own companies, the economy is more resilient
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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.
Niki Okuk - Entrepreneur
Niki Okuk is working to create social and economic justice and worker dignity. Full bio
Niki Okuk is working to create social and economic justice and worker dignity. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
Are you tired of your boss?
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(Laughter)
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Are you tired of going to work
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and making money for other people?
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And who are those people anyways?
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Those people that make
money from your work.
money from your work.
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Well, they're capitalists.
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They have capital,
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and they use your labor
to make more capital.
to make more capital.
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So if you're tired of going to work
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and making money for other people,
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then you're probably like me --
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just tired of capitalism.
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Which is ironic, because I'm a capitalist.
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(Laughter)
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I own a small business --
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Rco Tires in Compton.
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A few years ago, when I read Van Jones,
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and he wrote, "Let's make
green collar jobs in the hood,"
green collar jobs in the hood,"
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I took him really seriously.
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So I cofounded, own and operate
a tire recycling company,
a tire recycling company,
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and I'm really proud of what we've done.
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01:03
So far, we've recycled
a hundred million pounds of rubber.
a hundred million pounds of rubber.
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That's 21 million gallons of oil
diverted from landfills
diverted from landfills
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into new products.
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(Cheers)
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We also employ about 15 guys --
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mostly people of color,
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most of whom are felons,
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and we pay above the minimum wage,
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and we are now proud members
of the United Steelworkers Union.
of the United Steelworkers Union.
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01:24
(Applause)
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Now, Rco is not a cooperative now.
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It's a privately held company
with community-minded ownership,
with community-minded ownership,
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but I would like it to become one.
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I would like for them to fire the boss --
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that's me.
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(Laughter)
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And I'm going to tell you why,
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but first, let me tell you
how we got started.
how we got started.
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So a lot of people ask,
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"How did Rco come to be?"
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And I have to be really honest.
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I leveraged my white privilege.
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So, here's how white privilege
worked for me and Rco.
worked for me and Rco.
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My white grandmother
was born on her family's plantation
was born on her family's plantation
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in Arkansas in 1918.
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She traveled with her white father west,
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following the oil boom.
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And he held various union oil jobs --
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jobs which would have never been given
to my black great-grandfather,
to my black great-grandfather,
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had he lived here at the time.
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Granny became a hairdresser
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and then got a loan with her husband
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who built their home
in West Los Angeles --
in West Los Angeles --
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a loan which would never have been
given to a black family at the time.
given to a black family at the time.
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And after my grandfather passed away,
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my granny was able to keep that house
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because she had his pension
and his health care
and his health care
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from a state job which he held,
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which again, would have never been
given to a black man
given to a black man
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before the anti-discrimination
act of the 1960s.
act of the 1960s.
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So, you fast-forward 30 years,
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and I graduate,
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and I want to start my own business
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with a pile of debt and a credit card,
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and no experience in the tire industry.
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But I had what most people didn't have.
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I had a clean, safe, free place to live.
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I moved in with my grandmother,
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and I was able to rent
our first warehouse,
our first warehouse,
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buy our first truck,
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pay our first employees,
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because I didn't have to worry
about paying myself,
about paying myself,
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because I didn't need to feed myself,
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because I am the direct beneficiary
of generations of white privilege.
of generations of white privilege.
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Now, telling the story
of white privilege is important
of white privilege is important
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because very often people say,
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"Oh, we want more companies like yours.
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We want more Rco's,
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we want more black-owned businesses,
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female-led, triple bottom line,
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Ban the Box,
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green manufacturing companies," right?
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But the question we have to ask is,
where is the wealth?
where is the wealth?
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Where is the money?
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Where's the capital in our communities
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to build the types
of businesses that we want?
of businesses that we want?
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And in telling a story
of the white side of my family,
of the white side of my family,
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I needed a dozen ways
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where blacks were excluded
from the economy,
from the economy,
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whereas the white side of my family
was able to gain access and traction,
was able to gain access and traction,
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and build wealth ...
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Primarily because racism
and capitalism are best homies, but --
and capitalism are best homies, but --
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(Laughter)
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but what that means
is that when we ask ourselves,
is that when we ask ourselves,
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"Why are our communities broke?" --
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Like, we're not just broke
because we're broke;
because we're broke;
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we're broke for a reason.
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Historical context really does matter.
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But our history
tells another story as well.
tells another story as well.
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There's this incredible book
called "Collective Courage,"
called "Collective Courage,"
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which is the story of how
thousands of African Americans
thousands of African Americans
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have been able to build
businesses and schools,
businesses and schools,
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hospitals, farming cooperatives,
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banks, financial institutions --
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entire communities
and sovereign economies,
and sovereign economies,
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without a lot of capital.
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And they did it by working together
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and leveraging their community assets
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and trusting each other
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and putting solidarity first --
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not just profits by any means necessary.
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And they didn't have to wait around
for celebrities and athletes
for celebrities and athletes
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to bring their money back to the hood.
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However, if you are
a celebrity or an athlete,
a celebrity or an athlete,
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and you're listening to this,
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please feel free to bring your money.
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(Laughter)
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But they did it
through cooperative economics,
through cooperative economics,
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because they knew
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that capitalism was never
going to finance black liberation.
going to finance black liberation.
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So, there are so many great
examples in this book,
examples in this book,
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and I suggest that everybody just read it
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because it answers
the question I asked earlier,
the question I asked earlier,
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which was where are we going
to get the wealth
to get the wealth
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to build the types
of business that we want.
of business that we want.
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And the answer is going to have
to be cooperative economics.
to be cooperative economics.
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There's a lot of different
versions of cooperativism.
versions of cooperativism.
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What I'm talking about today
is worker ownership.
is worker ownership.
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You may not have heard
of worker ownership,
of worker ownership,
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but it's been an incredible tool
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for black economic liberation
for a century,
for a century,
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and it's also working
all over the world right now.
all over the world right now.
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You may have heard of Black Wall Street
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or maybe the Zapatistas,
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but I'll give you an example
that's a little bit closer to home.
that's a little bit closer to home.
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Right now, today, in South Bronx,
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is the country's largest
worker-owned company.
worker-owned company.
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It's called Cooperative
Home Care Associates,
Home Care Associates,
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and it was founded by black
and Latinx home care workers
and Latinx home care workers
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who are now able
to pay themselves living wages,
to pay themselves living wages,
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they have full-time hours,
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they have benefits and a pension,
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through their membership
as a unit of SEIU.
as a unit of SEIU.
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And these women owners now receive
a dividend back on their ownership
a dividend back on their ownership
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every year that the company
has been profitable,
has been profitable,
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which has been most years.
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So they're able to really enjoy
the fruits of their labor
the fruits of their labor
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because they fired the boss.
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They don't have any big investors.
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They don't have fat-cat CEOs
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or absentee owners taking
the profit out of the company.
the profit out of the company.
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They each pay in
about 1,000 dollars over time
about 1,000 dollars over time
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in order to gain ownership,
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and now they own their job.
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Now, there's hundreds of more examples
of companies like this
of companies like this
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springing up all across the country.
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And I'm so inspired by what they're doing,
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because it really represents
an alternative
an alternative
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to the type of economy we have now,
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which exploits all of us.
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It also represents an alternative
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to waiting around for big investors
to bring chain stores,
to bring chain stores,
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or big-box stores to our communities,
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because honestly,
those types of developments,
those types of developments,
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they steal resources from our communities.
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They put our mom-and-pop shops
out of business,
out of business,
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they make our entrepreneurs
into wage workers,
into wage workers,
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and they take money out of our pocket
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and send it to their shareholders.
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So, I was so inspired by all these stories
of resistance and resilience
of resistance and resilience
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that I got together with a few people
here in Los Angeles,
here in Los Angeles,
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and we created LUCI.
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LUCI stands for the Los Angeles
Union Cooperative Initiative,
Union Cooperative Initiative,
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and our objective is to create
more worker-owned businesses
more worker-owned businesses
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here in Los Angeles.
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So far, in the last year,
we've created two:
we've created two:
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Pacific Electric, an electrical company,
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and Vermont Gage Carwash,
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which is right here in South-Central,
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some of you guys
might be familiar with it.
might be familiar with it.
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This long-time carwash is now owned
and operated by its 20 workers,
and operated by its 20 workers,
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all of whom are union members as well.
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(Applause)
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So you might be wondering
why the focus on union-worker ownership,
why the focus on union-worker ownership,
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but there's a lot of good reasons
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why the labor movement is a natural ally
to the worker-ownership movement.
to the worker-ownership movement.
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To build these companies
that we want in our community,
that we want in our community,
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we need a few things.
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We're going to need money,
people and training.
people and training.
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Unions have all of those things.
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America's working class has been
paying union dues for decades,
paying union dues for decades,
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and with it, our unions have been building
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dignified, decent,
and democratic workplaces for us.
and democratic workplaces for us.
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However, union jobs
are on the steep decline,
are on the steep decline,
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and it's time for us to start
calling on our unions
calling on our unions
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to really bring all of their financial
and political capital
and political capital
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to bear in the creation of new,
union, living-wage jobs
union, living-wage jobs
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in our communities.
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Also, union halls
are full of union members
are full of union members
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who understand
the importance of solidarity
the importance of solidarity
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and the power of collective action.
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These are the types of folks that want
more union businesses to exist,
more union businesses to exist,
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so let's build them with them.
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Learning from our unions,
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learning from our past,
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learning from our peers,
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are all going to be very
important to our success,
important to our success,
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which is why I'd like to leave you
with one last example
with one last example
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and a vision for the future ...
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and that vision is Mondragon, Spain.
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Mondragon, Spain is a community
built entirely around worker cooperatives.
built entirely around worker cooperatives.
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There's 260-plus businesses here,
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manufacturing everything from bicycles
to washing machines to transformers.
to washing machines to transformers.
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And this group of businesses
now employs 80,000 people
now employs 80,000 people
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and earns more than 12 billion euros
in revenue every year.
in revenue every year.
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And all of the companies there
are owned by the people that work in them.
are owned by the people that work in them.
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They've also built universities
and hospitals and financial institutions.
and hospitals and financial institutions.
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I mean, imagine if we could build
something like this in South-Central.
something like this in South-Central.
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The late mayor of Jackson
had a similar idea.
had a similar idea.
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He wanted to turn his entire city
into a Mondragon-like cooperative economy,
into a Mondragon-like cooperative economy,
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calling his ambitious plan
"Jackson Rising."
"Jackson Rising."
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And when I look at Mondragon,
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I see really what working-class people
can do for ourselves
can do for ourselves
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when we work together
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and make decisions
for ourselves and each other
for ourselves and each other
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and our communities.
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And what's really incredible
about Mondragon
about Mondragon
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is that while we are dreaming about them,
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they are dreaming about us.
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This community in Spain has decided
to launch an international initiative
to launch an international initiative
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to create more communities
like it all over the world,
like it all over the world,
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by linking up with unions,
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by supporting organizations like LUCI,
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and by educating folks
about the worker-ownership model.
about the worker-ownership model.
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Now, here's what you can do
to be a part of it.
to be a part of it.
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If you're a union member,
go to your union meetings,
go to your union meetings,
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and make sure that your union
has a worker-ownership initiative,
has a worker-ownership initiative,
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and become a part of it.
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If you're an entrepreneur,
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if you have a small business,
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or you're interested in starting one,
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then link up with LUCI
or another organization like us
or another organization like us
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to help you get started
on the cooperative model.
on the cooperative model.
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If you're a politician,
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or you work for one,
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or you just like talking to them,
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please get the city, state, federal
and county legislation passed
and county legislation passed
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that we need in order to fund
and support worker-owned businesses.
and support worker-owned businesses.
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And for everybody else,
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learn about our history,
learn about our models,
learn about our models,
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and seek us out so can support us,
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you can buy from us, invest in us,
lend to us and join us,
lend to us and join us,
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because it's really
going to take all of us
going to take all of us
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in order to build the more just
and sustainable and resilient economy
and sustainable and resilient economy
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that we want for ourselves
and our children.
and our children.
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And with that,
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I would like to leave you
with a quote from Arundhati Roy,
with a quote from Arundhati Roy,
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and she writes ...
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"Our strategy should not be only
to confront Empire,
to confront Empire,
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but to lay siege to it.
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To deprive it of oxygen.
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To mock it.
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To shame it.
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With our art,
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our literature,
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our music,
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our brilliance,
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our joy,
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our sheer relentlessness --
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and our ability to tell our own stories.
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Not the stories that we're being
brainwashed to believe.
brainwashed to believe.
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The corporate revolution will collapse
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if we refuse to buy
what they're selling --
what they're selling --
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their ideas,
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their version of history,
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their wars,
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their weapons,
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their sense of inevitability.
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Because know this:
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They be few and we be many.
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They need us more than we need them.
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Another world is not only possible,
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she's on her way.
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And on a quiet day,
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I can hear her breathing."
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Niki Okuk - EntrepreneurNiki Okuk is working to create social and economic justice and worker dignity.
Why you should listen
Niki Okuk founded Rco Tires in 2012. They've since recycled more than 300 million pounds of rubber, diverting 70 million gallons of oil from landfills with 16 employees, making it one of southern California's largest sustainability plants. Rco creates alternative uses for trash tires, turning them into new products. Because of Okuk's progressive hiring and management practices, it provides stable jobs for local black and Latino residents who struggle to find employment because of past criminal convictions or legal status.
Okuk grew up in Los Angeles and majored in economics at Columbia University. After working in development with the office of Joseph Stiglitz and working in finance in Korea and Singapore, Okuk completed her MBA with Nanyang University in Singapore, including a sustainability certificate at Sloan School of Business at MIT.
Niki Okuk | Speaker | TED.com