A cab company with healthcare for employees? This cooperative cab company does that and more.
http://host.madison.com/wsj/business/executive-q-a-union-cab-gm-deals-with-a-challenging/article_ab35a950-5448-11e1-a871-0019bb2963f4.html
The article is a Q & A format with John McNamara, General Manager of Union Cab in Madison, Wisconsin. One more example of a cooperative being a positive for the employee/owners and the community.
Q: Do you think Union Cab is unique?
A: Among cab companies, Union Cab is very unique. We are one of the only taxi cooperatives that include all of the organization's workers as members. We are one of the only cab companies that provide health care to its drivers. In Madison, we are the only full-service cab company. We have hybrid electric vehicles for the environmentally conscious, minivans for families and parties of five and six, and the only on-demand wheelchair accessible taxis for people with challenged mobility. As a worker-owned business, we used to be very unique, and we're still one of the largest worker cooperatives in the country, but I am quite happy to see more worker-owned businesses show up every day.
Q: How is running a cooperative business different from running a traditionally structured business?
A: It is a lot harder. Managers in a worker cooperative need to do everything other managers do, but we also need to answer to the membership, which doubles as the workforce. You could say that we are the Ginger Rogers of the business world — she did everything Fred Astaire did only backwards and in heels. As a democratic organization, and one in which the members are also the workers, buy-in becomes more important than ever. This means that some decisions take a little bit longer to make than in an investor-owned business.
Some interesting tidbits about how moving to Prius cabs has allowed them to remain competitive while not raising rates since August of 2008.
I would welcome more information regarding cooperatives here on DU. Maybe BobtheDrummer can write about the co-op in his community.
