💡 Worker Cooperative

Legal framework in which those who work in the organization are simultaneously their own employers. There is no employer-employee relationship: each member contributes a symbolic share of capital upon joining, votes in assembly with one vote per person (regardless of capital contributed), and participates in both strategic and day-to-day decisions. In Argentina it is regulated by Cooperative Law 20.337 (1973) and supervised by INAES (Instituto Nacional de Asociativismo y Economía Social). To be established, it requires a minimum of six founding members, an approved statute, minutes book, membership register, and audited annual financial reports. Unlike a capital-based company, surpluses — not "profits" — are distributed in proportion to the work contributed by each member, not according to investment. The law also requires three mandatory allocations before distribution: 5% to a legal reserve, 5% to a social assistance fund, and at least 5% to a cooperative education fund. Cooperativa Liberté is the first in the world whose Board of Directors was composed, at the time of its founding, of 100% incarcerated people — a historic milestone recorded by INAES in September 2021.