In Quebec, labour-sponsored "Solidarity Funds" are generating jobs. MONTREAL - The Solidarity Fund is a financial innovation in North America, and is one of few similar institutions in the world (Note 1).
Created in 1983 by the Quebec Federation of Labour, the Fund was born into a period of deep recession in Quebec and Canada. "Full employment was a highly attractive prospect at the time," affirms Daoust. New ideas were needed, and the Quebec Federation of Labour had a solution: A new investment fund, sponsored by workers themselves, and with attractive tax rates for investors.
From the start, realities had to be tackled. "Firstly, there has to be a starting point, a trade-union open to such a project. The Fund seeks profitability, but it is considered first and foremost a "capital for development" fund, financial output representing only one part of the equation. In 2003, the Solidarity Fund had over half a million shareholders.
As a result, workers have a role beyond the execution of tasks. The success of the Solidarity Fund is not limited to Quebec. Participatory Budgeting in New York City. Wikipedia. MONDRAGON Corporation. Basic income. An unconditional basic income (also called basic income, basic income guarantee, universal basic income, universal demogrant,[1] or citizen’s income) is a proposed system[2] of social security in which all citizens or residents of a country regularly receive an unconditional sum of money, either from a government or some other public institution, in addition to any income received from elsewhere.
A basic income is typically intended to be only enough for a person to survive on, so as to encourage people to engage in economic activity. A basic income of any amount less than the social minimum is sometimes referred to as a 'partial basic income'. On the other hand, it should be high enough so as to facilitate any socially useful activity someone could not afford to engage in if dependent on working for money to earn a living. [citation needed] Basic income systems financed on returns to publicly owned enterprises are major components in many proposals for market socialism. Properties[edit]