Member Economic Control: What Does It Actually Mean in Practice?
Written by Shalom Bajeh
Picture this: a co-operative has had a good year. The team worked hard, projects got delivered, customers were looked after, and the organisation ended up with a surplus. Then comes the harder question of what to do with the value we've created.
In a conventional business, that question usually sits with owners, shareholders, or a handful of senior decision-makers. In a co-operative, it works differently, because the people doing the work aren't just employees but also members. And being a member means having a real stake in understanding, shaping, and taking responsibility for the organisation's economic life. That's when member economic control stops being a line in a handbook and starts being something you actually have to practice.
It starts with understanding
You can't exercise meaningful control over something you don't understand. That doesn't mean every member needs to become an accountant overnight, but it does mean building enough transparency that people can ask the questions that matter: Where does our income actually come from? What does it cost to keep the lights on? What do we need to set aside for leaner years? What should we be investing in, and what happens if revenue drops?
Underneath all of that sits the real question of what choices we have, and what each one costs us. Economic control only means something when people have enough information to actually participate.
It's more than a vote
Having a formal vote matters, but it's not the whole story. Real economic control often shows up in being brought into a conversation before the decision is already made, in asking why a particular investment is on the table, in pushing back when something doesn't add up. None of that happens without an organisation willing to share information, make room for discussion, and actually listen when members speak up.
Control comes with responsibility
It's easy to say members should have more say. It's a lot harder to follow that through: if members have more say, they also need to understand the financial reality, weigh up the long-term consequences, and own the decisions that follow. A co-operative can't run on what feels good in the moment. Sometimes the right call is to build up reserves instead of paying out a surplus. Sometimes it means spending on equipment or people before anyone feels the benefit. Sometimes it means turning down an opportunity because it is against our core values. Having a voice in those calls is part of member economic control, but so is accepting that the organisation's long-term health is everyone's responsibility, not just the founders.
What does it look like on a normal Tuesday?
This might be where the idea actually gets interesting, because member economic control isn't confined to an AGM or a formal vote. It shows up in an ordinary conversation between colleagues, like someone questioning why money's being spent a certain way, a team member suggesting a smarter way to deliver a service, someone pointing out that wasted resources don't just blow a budget line, they shrink what's available to everyone. It shows up any time someone asks, "Is this the best use of what we've got?" That's an economic question. And in a worker-owned organisation, it belongs to everyone, not just the people with "finance" in their job title.
From principle to practice
The co-operative principles give us the framework, but they only mean something once they shape how people actually behave day to day. Member economic control isn't really about who owns the organisation on paper. It is about whether members have the knowledge, the transparency, the voice, and the willingness to take responsibility that participating meaningfully actually requires.
The real test isn't whether we can claim members have control. It's whether, in the everyday decisions, they're actually able to use it.
So maybe that's the question worth sitting with: what would member economic control look like if we practiced it every single day?
