Summary
What It Is
The Unit is a complete, practically self-contained organization within the business. Comparing the Liberty Workforce model to the United States, a Unit is like one of the States. A Unit is like a small business. The Workerle is a federation of such small businesses like the United States is a federation of States. The basic building block of the Unit is the Work Group. It corresponds to a county or city. The Unit is similar to a small business operating on its own.
What Problem It Solves
The Unit preserves the “look and feel” and advantages of small business as the whole business grows large.
How It Works
It has its own executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The Unit Leader is the executive. He is appointed by the President of the business and approved by the workers of the Unit. The workers create their own Unit Legislature to make their own laws and decisions. There is also a Unit Judge appointed to run elections and resolve disputes. The workers are organized into Work Groups. They elect their own Work Group Leader. The Work Group manages and performs the work of the business.
Discussion
Another principle purpose of the federal system is to preserve Unit self-rule. The Workerle Constitution guarantees every Unit a republican form of government and specifies a few features, but generally allows each Unit to determine its own laws within those bounds. The most freedom exists in determining the form of the Unit legislature.
An exact definition of what is a republican government probably cannot be determined. Nonetheless, it can be described accurately enough to distinguish from other form of governance. For our purposes, a republican government shall have among its traits the following:
- The Workerle is governed by rule of law and those laws are determined by the workers.
- The worker is sovereign in the Workerle and the Workerle derives its powers from the consent of the workers.
- Government powers are limited.
- Separation of legislative, executive, and judicial powers into different offices
- Workers or their elected representatives select (or approve) government officials.
- Workers have natural, inalienable rights. These rights are not granted to them by the Workerle, rather the Workerle is instituted to preserve these rights.
- This principles, rights, and limits are embodied in a Constitution
This republican form of Unit governance is described in greater detail below.
Unit Leader
The Unit Leader is the executive of the Unit. He, along with assistant leaders, if he chooses to have them, and with the Work Group Leaders comprise the executive branch of the Unit government.
Selecting and Confirming the Leader
The Unit Leader is appointed by the President with the consent of the Board and with the consent of three-fourths of the Unit workers voting, if the Unit has workers, or with the consent of the Senate, if the unit does not yet have workers (e.g., a newly formed unit).
Powers and Duties
Different Kind of Leader
Of all the positions in a business, Liberty Workforce requires the greatest change in the Unit Leader. He no longer is a judge or a legislator. He now is truly an executive: he puts into motion decisions made by others. More subtly, but probably more profound, the principal buttresses of worker deference to management are gone: the Unit Leader cannot, on his own, fire a worker, change what work the worker does, nor change the compensation the worker receives. Yet, the workers can remove the Unit Leader. Considering that no worker including leaders receives a salary or wage, but only a portion of the profits, this not an untenable position. Nonetheless, the Unit Leader must be the kind of leader workers want to obey.
What then are the duties and characteristics of a Unit Leader? First and foremost, his duty is to see that all workers in the Unit succeed, and hopefully, excel. He is the servant of all the workers. The Unit is to be structured so that most, if not all, the decisions are made by the workers. The Unit is to be like a home furnace: it does its job automatically, needing only occasionally adjustments and maintenance. The Unit Leader is more like the chief architect and head custodian of the machine rather than a part (e.g., head) of the machine. Other duties and characteristics are:
- Builder of people and processes
- Sees that decisions are made, made timely, and made well, not by making them, but by teaching, counseling, and bringing things to worker’s attention. This does not mean micromanaging or hovering. A custodian does not do his job by staring at the furnace all day. He installs alarms to tell him when it needs attention.
- Facilitator of effective intra- and inter-group interactions
- Visionary and communicator. He sees where the Unit is, where it could be going, and what forces could play upon it. He communicates these things with the workers and builds consensus around what course to take.
- Personally knows every worker. The power of the Unit Leader is in his personal relationships, not in positional authority. He cannot guide and influence people he does not know.
Accounting and Budgeting
The Unit is a cost center. The Unit Leader is responsible to see that proper accounting occurs and is communicated to the Unit workers and to Federal.
The Unit Leader is responsible to collect budgetary information from the Work Groups and other sources, to prepare proposed budgets to the Unit Legislature for its consideration and approval, and to communicate approved budgets to Federal.
Stewardship Accounting
Report on the affairs of the Unit to Federal Officers as they might require
Discipline and Separation of Workers
When a complaint is filed against a worker preparatory to removing a worker forcefully from a work group, the Unit Leader will counsel with the worker, the Work Group Leader, and, if prudent, the Work Group to try to resolve the complaint.
If the complaint made is punishable if true, the Unit Leader may petition the Unit Court to call a Grand Jury to investigate whether charges should be filed against the worker.
If a worker is forcefully removed from a Work Group, the Unit Leader works with the worker to find a new work group, whether in the Unit or in another Unit. The unit leader may be able to find a position for him that takes better advantage of his abilities. The Unit Leader will also try to help the worker change, if appropriate. He may also try to effect reconciliation with the former Work Group if it makes sense
Creation of New Work Groups
The Unit Leader applies to the Unit Legislature for approval to create a permanent Work Group.
Monitor Selection of Work Group Leaders
The Unit Leader should support the Work Group Leader selection process by understanding how the group is determining their leader, offering advice if needed, and talking with individuals if he or she senses that the process is not democratic. The Unit Leader has the right to protest to the Unit Court the election of a Group Leader if he thinks that the Group Leader will be detrimental to the functioning of the Unit or that the election was not fair and democratic.
Appoint Unit Court Judge
With the approval of the Unit Legislature, the Unit Leader appoints the Judge of the Unit Court.
Assistant Leaders Possible
With the approval of three-fourths of the workers voting, the Unit Leader may appoint up to two Assistant Unit Leaders as the demands of the Unit may require.
Term of Service
The Unit Leader serves until he is removed, resigns or otherwise vacates.
Recall
Upon the verification of a recall petition signed by at least 20% of the workers, the Unit Judge shall immediately notify the President and shall, in a timely manner, hold a recall election. If the recall petition passes by a simple majority of workers, the Unit Leader is removed from office, but not separated from the Workerle. The Judge shall inform the President, the Unit Leader, and the Unit workers of the results of the election.
Sustaining
At least every two years, the Unit workers shall vote as to whether they continue to sustain (i.e., approve and support) the Unit Leader. If the Unit Leader fails to be sustained by three-fourths of the workers, a recall election shall automatically be set for three months later. The Unit Leader may use this time to increase the number of workers who sustain him.
Unit Court
The Court System, Term of Office, and Compensation
The judicial power of the Unit shall be vested in one Unit Court. The Judge shall hold his office during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for his services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during his continuance in office.
Court Jurisdictions
The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the Workerle and of the Unit, and Agreements made, or which shall be made, under their authority;
Powers
- Conduct all Unit elections (but not those in Work Groups), all recalls (including those in Work Groups), all sustaining votes, and report results.
- Call a grand jury
Trial by Jury
A trial of a worker involving a reduction in distributions to a worker or other compensations and benefits or involving the separation of a worker from the Workerle, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury.
Unit Legislature
Composition
The workers in each Unit are allowed to determine the structure of their legislature. It must be democratic, however. It could be a direct democracy similar to the New England town meeting. Or it could be a representative democracy similar to a town council. The representatives could be elected for that purpose or the legislative duties could be assigned to the Work Group Leaders. Combination of direct and representative democracy could also be used. A formal representative legislature could meet regularly to handle its duties, but if the workers felt this legislature was not following its wishes, all the workers could meet and legislate directly.
Additional issues that need to be decided are:
- Procedures
- Time of Meeting
- Other issues that need to be determined for representative legislatures are:
- Composition and Term of Office
- Qualifications
- Apportionment (Based on Work Groups or based on number of workers)
- Compensation (after hours “pro bono” or overtime pay or all work is during hours and covered by worker’s normal compensation)
- Privilege (making sure that legislative members are able to attend to their duties)
Review by the Unit Leader
Every bill which shall have passed the Unit Legislature, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the Unit Leader; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections to the Unit Legislature, who shall proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration, two thirds of the Unit Legislature shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall become a Law. If any bill shall not be returned by the Unit Leader within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it.
Powers
The Unit Legislature has power to make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the following powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the Unit government, or in any Department or Officer thereof.
- Apply for Federal protection against domestic violence.
- The Unit Legislature shall have sole Power to impeach a Unit Judge. The Unit Legislature shall try the impeachment of the Judge. No Judge shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present. Upon the confirmation of the conviction by the Unit Leader, the Judge is removed from his Office of the Court.
- Participate in amending the Workerle Constitution
- Review and approve the Unit budget
- Interpose in the Federal. The Federal is to have limited jurisdiction over the internal affairs of the Unit. If the Unit Legislature feels that the Federal has overstepped its bounds, the Unit Legislature may initiate an interposition.
- Approve merging, dividing, or dissolving the Unit as proposed by Congress.
- Create, divide, merge, and dissolve work groups. Note: It is suggested that this be done with the approval of the workers involved. However, where the Unit Legislature is acting as a last resort to resolve discord, the Unit Legislature may act without approval if three-fourths of the Unit Legislators agree. In this case, any Legislators who are members of the Work Group in question are not allowed to vote and the three-fourths requirement is based on the remaining number of Legislators.
- Determine voting systems
- Decide workplace rules such as office hours, dress code, etc.
- Make workplace decisions such as office seating plans, parking space assignments, etc.
Note: Using seniority as a determinant in allocating office perks is strongly discouraged. It sends that the message that the contribution of newcomers is less valuable and that a worker’s value increases simply based on years of service. Both of these are untrue and should not be reinforced.
Other
Work Groups
The Work Group is the fundamental building block of the Business organization. A Unit has two or more Work Groups. Every worker is a member of at least one Work Group. The Unit exists to support the Work Group. As the success of the Work Group goes, so goes the success of the Unit and the Business. Work Group governance is discussed in a separate article.
General Provisions of the Constitution Apply to the Units
There are general provisions of the Workerle Constitution that apply to the Unit governance. As the Constitution is the supreme law of the Workerle, whatever is done in the Unit must comply with it. These include the following (see Federal Governance for details):
- The Unit cannot abridge worker rights or deny equal workers protection of the law
- Workers are secure against searches without a warrant
- Workers have a right to vote
- Due process of law must be followed
- Judges, Legislators and Unit Leaders are bound by an oath to support the Constitution
Collaboration and Communication, and Relationships
The Liberty Workforce model eliminates much of the hierarchy of the command and control governance model. One of the purposes of this hierarchy was to communicate with the various parts of the organization, make decisions, and tell workers what to do. Consequently, the workers in such organizations did not need to communicate or decide much. With the elimination of this hierarchy, the workers must communicate and collaborate with their fellow workers. If need be, the workers must develop the necessary skills, tools, and habits to succeed at this. This nodal network of worker to worker has the potential to communicate and collaborate with far greater speed, efficiency, and accuracy than the “up one ladder and down the next” methods of the command and control hierarchies. The Liberty Workforce model has the potential for great improvements over traditional methods.
The following are examples of tools that can be used to build relationships, communicate, and collaborate:
- Council of Work Group Leaders. The Work Group Leaders could meet together regularly to plan and coordinate and to discuss issues. This could be presided over by the Unit Leader or he could just be invited to attend
- Software. Tools now exist to help teams of workers decide together, communicate, track assignments, store relevant projects documents, and simultaneously collaborate on documents and other electronic media.
- Ad hoc committees within the Unit and with other Units, permanent or temporary, can be formed by any worker without permission from management.
- Confederate associations can be formally created between Units to address needs common to those Units.
- Use existing communication tools: snail mail, Email, cell phone text, instant messaging/chat rooms, tele- and video-conferences, podcasts, etc.
- Socializing at work: Gathering spaces, lunch rooms (and even provide lunch), water cooler/snack places, parties, and so forth.
- Anti-hierarchal culture: Offices for all or none, same dress code for all (except maybe safety requirements), no seniority or position perks
- Architecture: small meeting (break out) rooms, lunch/break rooms, worker’s spaces (e.g., cubicles) physically close together (i.e., not in separate buildings or separated by large spaces)
- Mixed Work Groups: Create cross-functional (even cross-Unit) teams around a product, possibly co-locating. Does not have to be the primary or a permanent Work Group.
- Education and training on these subjects and tools.