Germany’s employment model is under attack, as mass closures and cost-cutting businesses make once-stable engineering jobs ever more precarious. Some trade unionists have turned to worker buyouts as a means of saving jobs — a move that hands workers more control of their situation, but also brings dangers of its own.

Leo W. Gerard, International President of the United Steelworkers (USW), together with representatives from Mondragon International, S.A., the global worker industrial cooperative leader, and the Ohio Employee Ownership Center (OEOC), announced today that