When workers own companies, the economy is more resilient | Niki Okuk

Translator: Elmer Wei Reviewer: Sylvia He

Are you tired of your boss?

你憎唔憎你老細？

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Are you tired of going to work

你係咪好厭

and making money for other people?

同人打工？

And who are those people anyways?

啲老細又係咩人呢？

Those people that make money from your work.

佢哋用你嘅勞力來賺錢

Well, they're capitalists.

佢哋就係資本家

They have capital,

佢哋有資本

and they use your labor to make more capital.

然後用你嘅工作成果來賺錢

So if you're tired of going to work

所以，如果你唔想返工

and making money for other people,

幫人賺錢

then you're probably like me --

你可能好似我噉

just tired of capitalism.

好憎資本主義

Which is ironic, because I'm a capitalist.

好諷刺，因為我係資本家

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

I own a small business --

我擁有一家小型企業

Rco Tires in Compton.

喺康普頓嘅 Rco 車呔回收公司

A few years ago, when I read Van Jones,

幾年前，我睇過范瓊斯寫嘅一本書

and he wrote, "Let's make green collar jobs in the hood,"

裡面講：「我哋應該喺貧窮社區

創造綠領工作機會。」

I took him really seriously.

我好認真對待佢呢番話

So I cofounded, own and operate a tire recycling company,

於是我同人創立

擁有同經營一間車呔回收公司

and I'm really proud of what we've done.

我以我哋嘅成就為傲

So far, we've recycled a hundred million pounds of rubber.

目前為止，我哋回收咗一百萬磅橡膠

That's 21 million gallons of oil diverted from landfills

將二千一百萬加侖嘅廢油

into new products.

從垃圾崗回收去咗新產品度

(Cheers)

（歡呼聲）

We also employ about 15 guys --

我哋請咗大概十五名員工

mostly people of color,

多數係有色人種

most of whom are felons,

多數有案底

and we pay above the minimum wage,

我哋俾嘅人工多過法定最低工資

and we are now proud members of the United Steelworkers Union.

而且我哋好自豪

係美國鋼鐵工人聯合會嘅會員

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Now, Rco is not a cooperative now.

到目前為止，Rco 唔係合作社

It's a privately held company with community-minded ownership,

而係一家服務社區嘅私有公司

but I would like it to become one.

不過，我希望佢成為一家合作社

I would like for them to fire the boss --

仲希望佢哋會炒咗個老細

that's me.

即係我

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And I'm going to tell you why,

我話俾你知點解

but first, let me tell you how we got started.

先講吓我哋係點開始

So a lot of people ask,

有好多人問：

"How did Rco come to be?"

「Rco 係點嚟嘅呢？」

And I have to be really honest.

老實同你講

I leveraged my white privilege.

我利用咗我嘅白人特權

So, here's how white privilege worked for me and Rco.

我點用白人特權呢？

My white grandmother was born on her family's plantation

我嘅白人阿婆 1918 年

in Arkansas in 1918.

喺阿肯色州一個家族種植園度出世

She traveled with her white father west,

因為石油業好旺，佢同佢爹哋

following the oil boom.

就搬咗去西部

And he held various union oil jobs --

太公做過各種石油工會裡邊嘅工

jobs which would have never been given to my black great-grandfather,

係我黑人太爺仲在生時

had he lived here at the time.

絕對冇得做嘅工

Granny became a hairdresser

我外婆做咗一名理髮師

and then got a loan with her husband

然後同我阿公摞到

who built their home in West Los Angeles --

當時黑人絕對摞唔到嘅貸款

a loan which would never have been given to a black family at the time.

喺羅省西部起咗間屋住

And after my grandfather passed away,

我阿公過咗身之後

my granny was able to keep that house

我外婆仲可以繼續住喺嗰度

because she had his pension and his health care

因為佢有阿公嘅

from a state job which he held,

政府撫恤金同醫療福利

which again, would have never been given to a black man

喺 20 世紀 60 年代

通過嘅反歧視法之前

before the anti-discrimination act of the 1960s.

黑人係冇相同嘅權益

So, you fast-forward 30 years,

之後 30 年 （即 90 年代）

and I graduate,

我畢咗業

and I want to start my own business

想自己創業

with a pile of debt and a credit card,

即使我成身債， 得一張信用卡

and no experience in the tire industry.

而且對車輪行業冇任何認識同經驗

But I had what most people didn't have.

但係我有一樣好多人都冇嘅嘢

I had a clean, safe, free place to live.

我有個乾淨、安全、唔使錢嘅地方住

I moved in with my grandmother,

我搬咗去同我阿婆住

and I was able to rent our first warehouse,

我可以租到我哋嘅第一間倉庫

buy our first truck,

買我哋嘅第一部貨車

pay our first employees,

出糧俾我哋嘅第一批員工

because I didn't have to worry about paying myself,

因為我唔使擔心要自己出錢

because I didn't need to feed myself,

因為我唔使養自己

because I am the direct beneficiary of generations of white privilege.

因為我係代代白人特權嘅直接受益人

Now, telling the story of white privilege is important

我講呢個白人特權嘅故事，係因為

because very often people say,

好多人時常話

"Oh, we want more companies like yours.

「我哋想要多啲好似你噉嘅公司。

We want more Rco's,

我哋想要多啲 Rco。

we want more black-owned businesses,

我哋想要多啲黑人擁有嘅企業，

female-led, triple bottom line,

女人帶領嘅、三重底線嘅

Ban the Box,

『禁止查問（有冇犯罪紀錄）』嘅

green manufacturing companies," right?

綠色廠商。」

But the question we have to ask is, where is the wealth?

不過我哋要問一下

啲財富喺邊度嚟嘅呢？

Where is the money?

啲錢喺邊度嚟嘅呢？

Where's the capital in our communities

喺我哋嘅社區創業

to build the types of businesses that we want?

本錢喺邊度嚟嘅呢？

And in telling a story of the white side of my family,

我嘅白人親戚係度賺錢時

I needed a dozen ways

佢哋用咗好多方法

where blacks were excluded from the economy,

包括喺經濟上排斥黑人

whereas the white side of my family was able to gain access and traction,

來得到創業

and build wealth ...

同賺錢嘅機會

Primarily because racism and capitalism are best homies, but --

因為種族主義同資本主義係好兄弟

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

but what that means is that when we ask ourselves,

既係話，我哋問：

"Why are our communities broke?" --

「我哋嘅社區點解咁窮？」嗰時

Like, we're not just broke because we're broke;

我哋窮唔淨係因為我哋窮

we're broke for a reason.

我哋冇錢係有原因

Historical context really does matter.

明白歷史背景真係好重要

But our history tells another story as well.

我哋嘅歷史仲有另一個故事

There's this incredible book called "Collective Courage,"

有本好書，叫做《集體勇氣》

which is the story of how thousands of African Americans

講成千上萬嘅美國黑人係點樣

唔使用好多錢

have been able to build businesses and schools,

建立咗企業、學校

hospitals, farming cooperatives,

醫院、農業合作社

banks, financial institutions --

銀行、同金融機構

entire communities and sovereign economies,

一個完整嘅社區同獨立嘅經濟體系

without a lot of capital.

And they did it by working together

佢哋之所以成功，係因為佢哋齊心合作

and leveraging their community assets

利用公有資產

and trusting each other

互相信任

and putting solidarity first --

團結一致

not just profits by any means necessary.

而唔係不擇手段咁牟利

And they didn't have to wait around for celebrities and athletes

佢哋唔使等娛樂圈同體育明星

to bring their money back to the hood.

帶啲錢返嚟社區

However, if you are a celebrity or an athlete,

不過，如果你係娛樂圈或者體育明星

and you're listening to this,

又喺度聽緊我講嘢

please feel free to bring your money.

歡迎你隨時帶啲錢返嚟

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

But they did it through cooperative economics,

佢哋成功係透過合作經濟

because they knew

因為佢哋知道

that capitalism was never going to finance black liberation.

資本主義永遠都唔會喺經濟上解放黑人

So, there are so many great examples in this book,

呢本書有好多好正嘅例子

and I suggest that everybody just read it

我建議大家讀呢本書

because it answers the question I asked earlier,

因為佢解答咗我之前嘅問題

which was where are we going to get the wealth

就係問我哋想創立嘅理想企業

to build the types of business that we want.

需要嘅本錢喺邊度

And the answer is going to have to be cooperative economics.

答案就係喺合作經濟嗰度

There's a lot of different versions of cooperativism.

合作經濟形式都有好多種

What I'm talking about today is worker ownership.

今日我淨係講工人所有制

You may not have heard of worker ownership,

你可能未聽講過工人所有制

but it's been an incredible tool

佢喺近百年嘅黑人經濟解放

for black economic liberation for a century,

有好大嘅作用

and it's also working all over the world right now.

而且喺世界各地都有成效

You may have heard of Black Wall Street

你可能聽過黑人華爾街

or maybe the Zapatistas,

或者聽過薩帕塔民族解放軍

but I'll give you an example that's a little bit closer to home.

不過我嚟畀個近期啲，本國嘅例子

Right now, today, in South Bronx,

宜家，喺南布朗克斯

is the country's largest worker-owned company.

有全國最大嘅工人擁有公司

It's called Cooperative Home Care Associates,

佢叫做居家護理夥伴合作社

and it was founded by black and Latinx home care workers

由黑人同拉丁裔人創立

who are now able to pay themselves living wages,

出嘅糧真係夠員工生活

they have full-time hours,

員工個個可以做全職

they have benefits and a pension,

佢哋作為服務行業雇員國際工會成員

through their membership as a unit of SEIU.

有福利同退休金

And these women owners now receive a dividend back on their ownership

佢哋每年公司分紅

every year that the company has been profitable,

人人有份

which has been most years.

幾乎年年都有

So they're able to really enjoy the fruits of their labor

佢哋能夠享受自己嘅工作成果

because they fired the boss.

因為佢哋炒咗個老細

They don't have any big investors.

冇巨額投資人

They don't have fat-cat CEOs

冇中飽私囊嘅

or absentee owners taking the profit out of the company.

行政總裁或者業主

They each pay in about 1,000 dollars over time

每個人要分期畀總共一千蚊

in order to gain ownership,

先至入到股

and now they own their job.

佢哋宜家自己做老細

Now, there's hundreds of more examples of companies like this

喺全國各地

springing up all across the country.

有成百上千嘅例子

And I'm so inspired by what they're doing,

我受佢哋嘅故事啟發

because it really represents an alternative

因為呢個模式真係可以取代

to the type of economy we have now,

我哋現有嘅經濟制度

which exploits all of us.

一個剝削我哋嘅經濟制度

It also represents an alternative

佢又可以取代

to waiting around for big investors to bring chain stores,

巨額投資人，同喺我哋嘅社區

or big-box stores to our communities,

嘅連鎖店或者大商店

because honestly, those types of developments,

因為老實講，宜家嘅發展模式

they steal resources from our communities.

喺度偷我哋社區嘅資源

They put our mom-and-pop shops out of business,

佢哋使家庭式小商店倒閉

they make our entrepreneurs into wage workers,

將可以成為企業家嘅人變成廉價工

and they take money out of our pocket

從我哋嘅褲袋

and send it to their shareholders.

攞錢去佢哋嘅股東

So, I was so inspired by all these stories of resistance and resilience

所以呢啲抵抗同變通嘅故事啟發咗我

that I got together with a few people here in Los Angeles,

我喺羅省同一班人

and we created LUCI.

創立咗 LUCI

LUCI stands for the Los Angeles Union Cooperative Initiative,

即係：羅省工會合作社主動計劃

and our objective is to create more worker-owned businesses

我哋嘅目的係

here in Los Angeles.

喺羅省創造更多工人擁有嘅企業

So far, in the last year, we've created two:

我哋上年已經喺羅省中南部

創立咗兩間企業

Pacific Electric, an electrical company,

太平洋電力公司同埋

and Vermont Gage Carwash,

佛蒙特結志洗車場

which is right here in South-Central,

some of you guys might be familiar with it.

在座幾位可能都聽過佢

This long-time carwash is now owned and operated by its 20 workers,

呢家洗車場由 20 名工人擁有同運作

all of whom are union members as well.

佢哋亦係工會會員

(Applause)

（掌聲）

So you might be wondering why the focus on union-worker ownership,

你可能會諗

點解將重點放喺工會工人所有制個度

but there's a lot of good reasons

因為勞工運動同工人所有制運動

why the labor movement is a natural ally to the worker-ownership movement.

相輔相承，理由有好多

To build these companies that we want in our community,

喺我哋嘅社區建立呢種公司

we need a few things.

我哋需要幾樣嘢

We're going to need money, people and training.

金錢、人手、同培訓

Unions have all of those things.

嗰啲嘢工會都有

America's working class has been paying union dues for decades,

美國嘅工人階級已經交工會會費

交咗幾十年喇

and with it, our unions have been building

通過收費，工會為我哋建造

dignified, decent, and democratic workplaces for us.

有尊嚴嘅、似樣嘅、民主嘅工作場所

However, union jobs are on the steep decline,

但係，工會工宜家少咗好多

and it's time for us to start calling on our unions

宜家係時候叫我哋嘅工會

to really bring all of their financial and political capital

用佢哋所有嘅財務同政治資本

to bear in the creation of new, union, living-wage jobs

支持我哋嘅社區創建

in our communities.

新嘅同俾夠生活工資嘅工作

Also, union halls are full of union members

仲有，好多工會

who understand the importance of solidarity

明白團結嘅重要性同埋

and the power of collective action.

集體行動嘅力量

These are the types of folks that want more union businesses to exist,

佢哋想有多啲工會企業

so let's build them with them.

我哋應該同佢哋合作

Learning from our unions,

從工會

learning from our past,

從過去嘅歷史

learning from our peers,

從我哋嘅同儕個度學嘢

are all going to be very important to our success,

都係我哋成功嘅關鍵

which is why I'd like to leave you with one last example

所以我想送畀大家最後一個例子

and a vision for the future ...

亦係我對未來嘅願景

and that vision is Mondragon, Spain.

西班牙嘅蒙德拉貢

Mondragon, Spain is a community built entirely around worker cooperatives.

蒙德拉貢係一個佢所有嘅公司都係

工人合作社嘅社區

There's 260-plus businesses here,

嗰度有 260 幾個企業

manufacturing everything from bicycles to washing machines to transformers.

乜都生產，由單車到洗衣機到變壓器

And this group of businesses now employs 80,000 people

呢批企業現時僱用八萬人

and earns more than 12 billion euros in revenue every year.

每年有超過一百二十億歐元嘅收益

And all of the companies there are owned by the people that work in them.

嗰度所有嘅公司都係工人擁有制

They've also built universities and hospitals and financial institutions.

佢哋自己起埋大學、醫院、同金融機構

I mean, imagine if we could build something like this in South-Central.

如果我哋喺羅省中南部

建立類似嘅社區，有幾咁好

The late mayor of Jackson had a similar idea.

已故前積臣市市長亦有噉嘅諗法

He wanted to turn his entire city into a Mondragon-like cooperative economy,

佢想將成個城市變成好似蒙德拉貢咁

calling his ambitious plan "Jackson Rising."

將呢個宏偉嘅計劃叫做「積臣興起」

And when I look at Mondragon,

我睇見蒙德拉貢時

I see really what working-class people can do for ourselves

我好似見到我哋工人攜手合作

when we work together

為自己、為彼此

and make decisions for ourselves and each other

為我哋嘅社區作出決定

and our communities.

我哋能夠成功嘅

And what's really incredible about Mondragon

蒙德拉貢最正嘅地方係

is that while we are dreaming about them,

我哋夢想變成佢哋時

they are dreaming about us.

佢哋有諗住我哋

This community in Spain has decided to launch an international initiative

呢個西班牙嘅社區

決定推出一項國際倡議

to create more communities like it all over the world,

喺世界各地創立多啲類似嘅社區

by linking up with unions,

方法包括同工會聯手

by supporting organizations like LUCI,

支持LUCI 咁樣嘅組織

and by educating folks about the worker-ownership model.

同埋畀更多人認識工人所有制

Now, here's what you can do to be a part of it.

你想參與，就應該做呢啲嘢

If you're a union member, go to your union meetings,

係工會會員要去工會開會

and make sure that your union has a worker-ownership initiative,

確保工會有一項工人所有制嘅倡議

and become a part of it.

然後報名參加呢個項目

If you're an entrepreneur,

係企業家嘅

if you have a small business,

仲擁有小企業嘅

or you're interested in starting one,

又或者有興趣開創業嘅人

then link up with LUCI or another organization like us

歡迎你同 LUCI 或類似組織聯手

to help you get started on the cooperative model.

嚟開間合作社

If you're a politician,

如果你係一名政客

or you work for one,

或者你為一名政客打工

or you just like talking to them,

又或者你鍾意聯絡政客嘅話

please get the city, state, federal and county legislation passed

請支援市級、縣級、州級、同聯邦級

相關法案嘅通過

that we need in order to fund and support worker-owned businesses.

嚟資助同支持工人擁有嘅企業

And for everybody else,

至於在座嘅其他人

learn about our history, learn about our models,

多學下我哋嘅歷史同經濟模式

and seek us out so can support us,

多揾下我哋嘅企業，多多支持我哋

you can buy from us, invest in us, lend to us and join us,

你可以參加、幫襯、投資同借貸畀我哋

because it's really going to take all of us

因為要建立一個我哋同仔女想要嘅

in order to build the more just and sustainable and resilient economy

更公平、更有持續性

更有適應能力嘅經濟制度

that we want for ourselves and our children.

需要我哋所有人嘅力量去實現

And with that,

講到呢度

I would like to leave you with a quote from Arundhati Roy,

我最後想引用阿蘭達蒂．洛伊嘅文字：

and she writes ...

"Our strategy should not be only to confront Empire,

「我哋嘅策略唔單只要對抗帝國，

but to lay siege to it.

仲要包圍佢，

To deprive it of oxygen.

使到佢冇氣唞，

To mock it.

要諷刺佢，

To shame it.

要羞辱佢。

With our art,

用我哋嘅藝術、

our literature,

我哋嘅文學、

our music,

我哋嘅音樂、

our brilliance,

我哋嘅才華、

our joy,

我哋嘅喜樂、

our sheer relentlessness --

我哋嘅鍥而不捨、

and our ability to tell our own stories.

同我哋敘述自己故事嘅能力，

Not the stories that we're being brainwashed to believe.

而唔係重覆用來洗我哋個腦嘅故事。

The corporate revolution will collapse

假如我哋抵制公司制度，

if we refuse to buy what they're selling --

包括佢哋嘅主意、

their ideas,

佢哋所篡改嘅歷史、

their version of history,

佢哋嘅戰爭、

their wars,

佢哋嘅武器、

their weapons,

佢哋嘅必然感，

their sense of inevitability.

公司制度就會崩潰。

Because know this:

因為你要知道：

They be few and we be many.

佢哋人少，我哋人多。

They need us more than we need them.

佢哋需要我哋多過我哋需要佢哋。

Another world is not only possible,

另一個世界同制度唔單只係可能，

she's on her way.

佢都就嚟到喇。

And on a quiet day,

冇聲嘅時候

I can hear her breathing."

我聽到佢唞氣。」

Thank you.

多謝大家

(Applause)

（掌聲）