A trade union that helped worker cooperatives is one side of things.<div>I also think, though, that a model for a Drupal/FLOSS cooperative could help collaboration and a lot of other things for us Drupalists.<br><div><br></div>
<div>This trade union helping cooperatives is the situation with Co-operatives UK. A workers cooperative is a great solution for Drupal teams and IT workers in general because the tools/production systems are inexpensive compared to, say, a car factory.</div>
<div><br></div><div>I've been working on plans for a Drupal workers cooperative for awhile. I floated the idea at a recent camp in Amsterdam for some feedback and I've continued working on it, pretty much solid, for about 4 months. I'd love to share and collaborate with others on the subject.</div>
<div><br></div><div>We could gather some ideas here?</div><div><a href="http://groups.drupal.org/drupal-worker-cooperative">http://groups.drupal.org/drupal-worker-cooperative</a></div><div><br></div><div>Alex<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">
On Sat, Aug 7, 2010 at 10:13 AM, Kristof Van Tomme <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:kristof@pronovix.com">kristof@pronovix.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
At the core a guild is a system where in order to gain higher returns<br>
on your labor you need to go through an apprenticeship of unpaid work<br>
that will make you part of the community.<br>
<br>
To become a Drupal rockstar and land well paying contracts (be it as a<br>
freelancer or an employee) you need to contribute to the community<br>
with unpaid work.<br>
<br>
I don't think we need anybody to regulate this, we are already a guild<br>
<br>
cheers,<br>
<font color="#888888">Kristof<br>
</font><div><div></div><div class="h5"><br>
<br>
<br>
On 7 August 2010 07:55, Sami Khan <<a href="mailto:sami@etopian.net">sami@etopian.net</a>> wrote:<br>
> Khalid,<br>
><br>
> I personally don't have the time to do a detailed study of the issue. What<br>
> it looks like and how it functions depends on your goals as an organized<br>
> base of power... which like any base of power has room for abuse by those<br>
> people that are on the top of the hierarchy. Further, there may be a<br>
> minority of employees that abuse rights given by the unions; this can drag<br>
> down the organization as a whole. Further, because certain management is<br>
> abusive to employees themselves, they create opposition in unions that<br>
> wastes tons of company's resources. These three reasons I think, by and<br>
> large, are the biggest reasons people equate unions with something<br>
> inherently bad. However, unions have brought workers many rights, rights<br>
> that in many cases have now been subsumed by the State; however, as the<br>
> State's resources become strained or the State becomes more corrupt, these<br>
> duties are abandoned, leaving the workers in the lurch.<br>
><br>
> One way that this community for instance could attempt to stave off some<br>
> competition would be to control the instructional capital of Drupal; it has<br>
> been in fact doing the exact opposite; and corporations acting within the<br>
> community have been encouraging this behaviour. They want cheap labour to<br>
> make returns for their investors.<br>
><br>
> "Trade unions have sometimes been seen as successors to the guilds of<br>
> medieval Europe, though the relationship between the two is disputed.[4]<br>
> Medieval guilds existed to protect and enhance their members' livelihoods<br>
> through controlling the instructional capital of artisanship and the<br>
> progression of members from apprentice to craftsman, journeyman, and<br>
> eventually to master and grandmaster of their craft. A trade union might<br>
> include workers from only one trade or craft, or might combine several or<br>
> all the workers in one company or industry."<br>
><br>
> Anyhow give the wikipedia article a read:<br>
> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_union" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trade_union</a><br>
><br>
> If I have some time in the future I would love to do some research and<br>
> theorizing on the issue. We'll see if this ever happens.<br>
><br>
> Sami<br>
><br>
> On Fri, 6 Aug 2010 19:48:19 -0400, Khalid Baheyeldin <<a href="mailto:kb@2bits.com">kb@2bits.com</a>> wrote:<br>
>> Forking this discussion under an appropriate subject ...<br>
>><br>
>> On Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 4:39 PM, Victor Kane <<a href="mailto:victorkane@gmail.com">victorkane@gmail.com</a>><br>
> wrote:<br>
>><br>
>>> We can all laugh our heads off, but the law of falling rate of return<br>
>>> (Marx) and the huge efforts being made (even in the Drupal community<br>
> via<br>
>>> the<br>
>>> sanctification of oDesk) to commoditize Drupal consulting work will<br>
> make<br>
>>> us<br>
>>> consultants laugh on the other side of our faces.<br>
>>><br>
>>> Only an international union (which we should have done at the cusp of<br>
> the<br>
>>> curve, not now that it is dropping) can defend our rights as working<br>
>>> people.<br>
>>><br>
>><br>
>> Let us for a minute forget the negative connotations of "union" in the<br>
>> mindset<br>
>> of many in the USA ... That is a bug topic in itself: are unions good or<br>
>> bad,<br>
>> and why ...<br>
>><br>
>> Let me throw in why this will not work regardless of the above ...<br>
>><br>
>> A union works within a certain geographical and jurisdiction area.<br>
>><br>
>> I can't see how an international union would work. Suppose Elbonians<br>
>> refuse to join. What can the international union do to prevent work<br>
> going<br>
>> to them? Sue them? Under which country's law? Enforcing which laws?<br>
>><br>
>> Unless it is The Hague ...<br>
>><br>
>> Would site owners be punished for not using unionized Drupal? How?<br>
>> What stops them from using Joomla then if Drupal has become such<br>
>> a pain?<br>
>> --<br>
>> Khalid M. Baheyeldin<br>
>> <a href="http://2bits.com" target="_blank">2bits.com</a>, Inc.<br>
>> <a href="http://2bits.com" target="_blank">http://2bits.com</a><br>
>> Drupal optimization, development, customization and consulting.<br>
>> Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. -- Edsger W.Dijkstra<br>
>> Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. -- Leonardo da Vinci<br>
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</div></div></blockquote></div><br></div></div>