Niki Okuk: When workers own companies, the economy is more resilient
Niki Okuk: 当劳动者拥有企业时,经济会更加强韧
Niki Okuk is working to create social and economic justice and worker dignity. Full bio
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money from your work.
to make more capital.
来赚取更多的资本。
green collar jobs in the hood,"
创造绿领工作。“
a tire recycling company,
轮胎回收公司。
a hundred million pounds of rubber.
一亿磅的橡胶。
diverted from landfills
2100万加仑的的石油
of the United Steelworkers Union.
美国钢铁工人工会的一员。
with community-minded ownership,
私营企业,
how we got started.
我们是怎么样开始的。
worked for me and Rco.
Rco的。
was born on her family's plantation
在阿肯色州的
to my black great-grandfather,
从来不可能得到,
in West Los Angeles --
given to a black family at the time.
永远也不会得到这样的贷款。
这个房子,
and his health care
given to a black man
反歧视法签署之前,
act of the 1960s.
也只拥有一张信用卡,
免费的地方居住。
our first warehouse,
我们的第一间仓库,
about paying myself,
of generations of white privilege.
直接受益人。
of white privilege is important
是很重要的,
where is the wealth?
财富在哪里?
资本在哪里?
of businesses that we want?
of the white side of my family,
from the economy,
was able to gain access and traction,
获取对经济的吸引力,
and capitalism are best homies, but --
是最好的哥们,但是……
is that when we ask ourselves,
当我们问自己:
because we're broke;
tells another story as well.
另一个故事。
called "Collective Courage,"
叫《群威群胆》
thousands of African Americans
businesses and schools,
and sovereign economies,
独立的经济体
for celebrities and athletes
a celebrity or an athlete,
through cooperative economics,
going to finance black liberation.
examples in this book,
the question I asked earlier,
to get the wealth
of business that we want.
to be cooperative economics.
versions of cooperativism.
is worker ownership.
of worker ownership,
for a century,
一个极佳的工具,
all over the world right now.
that's a little bit closer to home.
worker-owned company.
Home Care Associates,
and Latinx home care workers
建立,
to pay themselves living wages,
足以维持生活的薪水,
as a unit of SEIU.
(服务业雇员国际工会)的一员。
a dividend back on their ownership
可从公司的盈利中
has been profitable,
the fruits of their labor
属于他们劳动的果实,
the profit out of the company.
公司利益的拥有者。
about 1,000 dollars over time
大约1000美元。
of companies like this
an alternative
另一种替代方案。
to bring chain stores,
带来的连锁商店
those types of developments,
out of business,
into wage workers,
领薪水的工作者,
of resistance and resilience
深深鼓舞,
here in Los Angeles,
Union Cooperative Initiative,
缩写,
more worker-owned businesses
we've created two:
might be familiar with it.
and operated by its 20 workers,
二十名劳工拥有并运作,
why the focus on union-worker ownership,
要把关注点放在工会劳工所有权上,
to the worker-ownership movement.
天然同盟。
that we want in our community,
我们社区中的企业,
people and training.
paying union dues for decades,
工会会费。
and democratic workplaces for us.
are on the steep decline,
calling on our unions
and political capital
union, living-wage jobs
工会的、
are full of union members
the importance of solidarity
more union businesses to exist,
工会企业的存在,
important to our success,
with one last example
最后一个例子
built entirely around worker cooperatives.
由合作社所建造的社区。
to washing machines to transformers.
从自行车到洗衣机、到变压器。
now employs 80,000 people
in revenue every year.
are owned by the people that work in them.
在企业工作的劳动者所有。
and hospitals and financial institutions.
金融机构。
something like this in South-Central.
建造一个像这样的社区。
had a similar idea.
也有类似的想法,
into a Mondragon-like cooperative economy,
类似蒙德拉贡的合作型经济,
"Jackson Rising."
“杰克逊崛起”。
can do for ourselves
能为自己做些什么,
for ourselves and each other
自己的社区
about Mondragon
to launch an international initiative
发起一个国际倡议,
like it all over the world,
像他们一样的社区。
about the worker-ownership model.
to be a part of it.
go to your union meetings,
请参加工会会议,
has a worker-ownership initiative,
劳工所有权倡议,
or another organization like us
或者和其他类似的组织联系,
on the cooperative model.
and county legislation passed
通过立法
and support worker-owned businesses.
learn about our models,
了解我们的模式,
借款给我们或者加入我们,
lend to us and join us,
going to take all of us
共同努力,
and sustainable and resilient economy
更公正的、可持续的、有弹性的经济
and our children.
with a quote from Arundhati Roy,
阿兰达蒂·罗伊的话,
to confront Empire,
对抗大企业,
来书写属于我们自己的故事。
brainwashed to believe.
what they're selling --
他们更需要我们。
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